


Steeling the Past - Part 1

by NorahBolt56



Series: Steeling the Past [1]
Category: Remington Steele (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-26
Updated: 2018-05-20
Packaged: 2018-12-07 06:03:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 73,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11617464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NorahBolt56/pseuds/NorahBolt56
Summary: This is a companion piece to 'Steele Stringed Hearts' & provides a back story for 'Harry' (as Remington was known in his youth) and Kate. It is written as the memories Remington/Harry & Kate have after crossing paths again in 'Steele Stringed Hearts'. This piece is the first in a series.





	1. Chapter 1

_Remington sat in his office that afternoon, futilely trying to concentrate on paperwork. Try as he might he couldn’t stop thinking about Kate O’Casey, his first love, who he had come face to face with earlier that day after all this time. He found his thoughts going back to London, 15 years ago when he had first met her. As Kate sat in her hotel room that afternoon, a flood of memories also came back to her, as she pulled out an old photo strip from her purse of a young couple who had met 15 years before…_

 Harry (as he was calling himself then) strolled down the road that ran up to Brixton Tube station. He wondered if she’d be there again – the girl he had seen yesterday. He’d heard her at first before laying eyes on her the day before. He’d been busy hitting marks in the morning rush of commuters, bumping into several of them on purpose as he picked their pockets with a practised ease. It was then he’d heard a voice singing over the din, the voice of an angel but also with an edge to it that intrigued him. He looked around to find the source of it and caught sight of her. She looked young, perhaps his age or a year younger, with dark brown hair that fell just below her shoulders and bright green eyes – the greenest he had ever seen, like the green fields of his homeland. She was busking, playing a guitar while she sang, and doing alright by the looks of the notes & coins that had been thrown into the cap in front of her. Definitely cute, he thought appreciatively as he looked at her. She was quite petite & slender but with curves where it counted he noticed with a grin. He’d always had a thing for brunettes – blondes & redheads were okay of course but brunettes did something to him he couldn’t quite explain.

He watched her for a few moments and caught a flash of her smile as she thanked someone for their contribution to her growing pile of cash. “Focus on the job mate,” a little voice in his head, which sounded disturbingly like Daniel, broke him out of his reverie as he realised he’d missed a few easy marks while he was staring at her. Still, there was something about that girl that made him think he’d like to get her know her better. 

“I’ll just try my luck with these poor unsuspecting sods a bit longer and then I’ll try my luck over there with her,” he thought to himself with a lopsided grin as he made his way through the crowd. “Sorry mate,” he mumbled as he bumped into a middle aged man and fingered his wallet out of his coat pocket. For some reason the man went to grab his wallet out seconds later and realised it was gone. He put two and two together and looked at the lanky, dark haired teenager who had bumped into him moments before, who was quickly making his way through the crowd. “Stop thief! That cheeky bugger’s picked my pocket!” the man yelled, pointing at him, as Harry swore under his breath. ’Time to get out of here mate – the girl will have to wait till another day’, he thought a little ruefully to himself as he bolted, pushing his way through the crowd and disappearing before the man could catch up to him.

He was a bit later this morning than yesterday, unconsciously trying not to run into that bloke again, the morning crowd having thinned somewhat. A smile crossed his face as he rounded the corner and heard her voice & guitar again – he was in luck. She was singing “Satisfaction” by The Rolling Stones but then stopped abruptly. As he got closer to her he saw why.

“I’ll give you some satisfaction luv,” a big guy ,who looked a year or two older than Harry, said to her as he leered at her and put a hand on the wall next to her.

”Piss off,” he heard the girl mutter under her breath in an accent he recognised as similar to his own. Definitely Irish, he thought – knew I liked her for a reason! Despite the guy she kept trying to sing, hoping if she ignored him he’d get the message and leave her alone.

“C’mon darlin’ don’t be like that. How about we go for a little walk down the lane over there? No-one’ll see us. We could have a bit of fun hey?” the creep continued as he put a hand on her arm.

She stopped singing & glared at him. “I thought I told you to piss off. Get your hand off me,” she stated angrily, her green eyes flashing as she tried to pull her arm away.

“She’s certainly got spirit,” Harry thought to himself with interest.

The creep just tightened his grip though, his eyes narrowing at her. “Who do you think you are? Talking to me like that you mick bitch!” he swore at her.

With that Harry had heard enough. He came up behind the guy & tapped him on the shoulder. “I don’t think the lady’s interested sunshine,” he said to him as the guy whirled round to look at him. Up close he could see the guy was about his height, but twice as wide, with a mean countenance. The girl looked at him with a mixture of shock & gratitude, as she thought to herself, wow, he's gorgeous.

“What’s it to you mate? Why don’t you mind your own business & bugger off?” the guy warned him through gritted teeth, one of his hands clenching into a fist.

“Well you see you made it my business when you insulted my country woman here, and I’m not your mate,” Harry quipped as he winked at her, his Irish brogue coming out in his voice. Despite the tense situation & the fear she was feeling she couldn’t help but smile at him as his blue eyes twinkled mischievously at her.

“Listen mate,” the guy advanced menacingly towards him, “you bloody micks need to learn to shut your mouths.” With that he threw a punch at Harry. Living on the streets and fending for himself from a young age, plus a certain degree of natural talent, had given him lightning quick reflexes though and he ducked just in time, his own punch connecting with the creep’s stomach.

The guy looked at him with some surprise that quickly turned to anger as he threw another punch. Unfortunately this one connected with Harry’s chin, sending him reeling backwards, landing at the girl’s feet, scattering her takings over the ground.

“Sorry,” he apologised with a quick grin as she helped him up.

“Don’t mention it,” she replied with a grin of her own.

“C’mon mick – put your money where your mouth is. is one lucky punch all you got?” the creep taunted him. With that Harry’s blue eyes flashed with anger and something in him snapped. He started pummelling the guy whilst simultaneously blocking & ducking until he finally landed an upper cut on the guy’s jaw which knocked him to the ground, temporarily knocking him out.

He bent over, trying to catch his breath. “Thanks,” the girl said with a grateful smile.

”Don’t mention it,” he echoed her earlier words with a cheeky grin.

“What should we do now?” she asked, looking at the guy lying on the ground.

“He won’t be out for long – so I suggest we run,” he replied.

“Sounds good to me,” she agreed as he helped her scoop up her takings & guitar then grabbing her hand they dashed off down the road together as fast as they could.

When they had got far enough away they both stopped and caught their breath. “Thanks for stepping in back there – I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t have come along,” the girl said as she gave him a somewhat shy smile.

“You’re welcome,” he replied with a lopsided grin, his blue eyes twinkling at her.

“I’m Kate by the way, Kate O’Casey,” she introduced herself.

“Pleased to meet you Kate O’Casey. I’m Harry,” he replied.

“Just Harry?” she asked, thinking it was a bit odd that he hadn’t said his family name as well.

“Just Harry,” he stated with a grin, although he felt a bit uncomfortable as he always did, at the fact he didn’t know his real name.

“Well, ‘just Harry’, nice to meet you too,” she said smiling as she looked at him intently.

“He didn’t hurt you did he?” Harry asked her.

“No I’m okay. I think you copped it worse,” she stated ruefully as she reached out a hand to gingerly touch his bleeding chin.

“You’re bleeding – we need to clean that up,” she said with concern. He covered her hand with his for a moment, both of them feeling a spark as he did so. Their eyes met briefly and he knew she’d felt it too.

“It’s okay, I’ve had worse,” he brushed it off with a half-hearted laugh.

”Even so, I’d feel better if you’d let me clean it up for you – after all, if you hadn’t come to my defence you wouldn’t have got hurt ,” she said a little guiltily.

“Well okay then – I know a place we can go not far from here,’ he relented with a smile. Secretly he was glad for the excuse to spend more time with her.


	2. Chapter 2

He took her to Daniel’s flat which was not far from there. He had met Daniel a couple of years before when he had tried to pick his pocket and Daniel had caught him. In return for not handing him over the coppers he & Daniel had come to an agreement. Harry would use his ’skills’ as Daniel had called them, to help Daniel when he needed it. Over time Daniel had taken him under his wing, refining those skills and teaching him much more. He also provided him with a roof over his head and a hot meal whenever he needed it, which definitely put him in Harry’s good books. He would come & go from Daniel’s as he pleased, although he got the feeling the older man would prefer him to stay on a more permanent basis. But Harry wasn’t used to staying in one place for too long – it didn’t do you any good to get too comfortable anywhere, he had learnt over his young life. He would disappear for days, sometimes weeks, at a time then turn up at Daniel’s again as if he had never been away.

On the way to Daniel’s place he & Kate talked. “So what brings a young Irish lass to London eh? You got family here?” he asked with a smile.

She shook her head. “No, no family. I’m an orphan actually. Never knew my real mammy or da,” she confessed as he looked at her. Another thing they had in common, he thought.“I had this dream of coming to London and getting a record contract – get my music out there you know?" she went on.

“You’re pretty good,” Harry complimented her with a broad smile.

“Thanks,” she replied with a brief smile of her own but then it faded. “I think the reality’s a bit different to the dream though. I’ve only been here two months and I’m already running out of money. I’ve had the odd job here and there but nothing permanent & busking only gets me so much. If this keeps up I think I’ll be tucking my tail between my legs & heading back home to Ireland soon,” she said, somewhat disheartened.

Harry hesitated for a moment then said “Oh you don’t want to be doing that – what’s there for you anyway?” He didn’t know why but something inside him wanted her to stay.

“Nothing really,” she admitted.

“I could show you a few other ways to make a quid, if you’re interested,” he offered.

“Like what?” Kate asked a little warily, knowing how girls who were down on their luck sometimes made money. “I’m not going to sell my body or anything like that,” she added a little angrily.

Harry looked at her a bit shocked that she would even think he meant that. “No, no, nothing like that,” he reassured her quickly.

“Then what?” Kate asked expectantly.

“Watch and learn,” he quipped with a devilish grin as he nodded in the direction of a couple walking their way. “Oops.. beg your pardon mate,” Harry said as he ‘accidentally’ bumped into the guy and kept on walking as Kate watched him curiously.

Once they rounded the corner he stopped her and pulled the guy’s wallet out of his own pocket. “You picked his pocket?” Kate asked with amazement as he nodded, his left eyebrow going up in a somewhat cocky fashion. “Wow.. you’re good,” she said in admiration. Kate hesitated for a moment – she’d always been taught stealing was wrong, but she didn’t see that she had a lot of other options. “You could teach me how to do that?” she asked.

“Sure – why not?” Harry replied with a grin as they kept on walking. “Stick with me kid -you’ll do okay,” he said in his best Humphrey Bogart impression as he chewed on a toothpick he’d fished out of his pocket.

Kate couldn’t help but laugh. “Was that supposed to be Humphrey Bogart?” she asked cheekily.

“Whaddya mean supposed to be?” he retorted, pretending to be offended, but he laughed as well.

He’d never met anyone quite like her – they had just clicked from the first moment they’d met. Harry had always been guarded around other people, only revealing what he wanted them to see – he’d learnt it was safer that way. He wasn’t sure why, but he felt comfortable with her, and even though he’d only just met her he felt like he could trust her.

“So how did you learn how to pick pockets anyway?” she asked him. “Did someone teach you?”

He shook his head. “No not really. I just watched & learnt -  I met a few when I first got here. I’ve had quite a bit of practice since,” he admitted somewhat ruefully.

“How long have you been here ?” Kate asked.

Harry thought for a moment. “Oh about 5, almost 6 years I’d say.”

“Did you come over from Ireland with your family?”

Harry shook his head, focusing his gaze on the ground. ”Nah.. I’m a bit like you Kate, I’m an orphan. I got shunted around between some distant relatives when I was a kid, a stint or two in orphanages, a couple of foster families – I’m sure you know the deal,” he answered as Kate nodded understandingly. “When I was about 10 or so I figured I could do better on my own. I hung around Dublin for a while then decided about a year later to hop a ship to jolly old England and try my luck over here,” he told her, somewhat amazed that he was practically telling her his life story and he’d only just met her. Somehow he knew she’d understand.

Before too long they had reached Daniel’s flat. He retrieved the key from the hiding place Daniel had shown him. He could have easily picked the lock but Daniel frowned upon him picking his lock for some reason. “Do you live here?” Kate asked.

“Not really – I stay here sometimes. It belongs to a .. friend of mine ,”Harry replied quickly, not really knowing what to describe Daniel as  - friend? tutor? mentor? business associate? He opened the door to find the flat empty. Good, he thought. He didn’t know if Daniel would be too happy with him bringing a girl there.

Kate followed him into the bathroom as he found some cotton balls and iodine which she took from him. “Sit,” she ordered as he did so with a grin, on the edge of the bath. Kate turned on the tap in the sink and ran some of the cotton balls under the water then gently cleaned the blood off his chin. When she dabbed the iodine on he flinched a bit. “Ow!” he protested.

“You cop a punch to the chin and don’t complain but I put a little iodine on and you’re acting like a baby,” she chided him with a laugh. He pretended to be irritated  but he couldn’t help the smile that crossed his face which she returned. He’d had very few people take care of him during his life so it always came as a bit of a surprise when someone did.

Her smile and the twinkle in her bright green eyes as well as her close proximity to him was having a marked effect on him he realised, which both embarrassed him a little but thrilled him at the same time. Get a grip mate, he tried to calm himself down a bit before his reaction to her became too obvious. And then another thought entered his head mischievously, ’I wish she would.’ He shook his head to dispel the thought which wasn’t helping as he shifted a bit uncomfortably. She’d just had some sleazy creep trying to crack onto her, the last thing she needs right now is me getting all horny and coming on to her too, he thought to himself.

He coughed a little nervously then got up rather quickly. “Ah.. would you like a cuppa?” he offered.

“Sure.. thanks,” she replied a little puzzled at why he had suddenly jumped up almost nervously.

“Ah.. thanks for cleaning me up,” he said hurriedly as he flashed a smile at her.

“You’re welcome,” she replied with one of her own as she followed him to the kitchen.

He made them both a cup of tea which they drank while chatting some more. He learnt she had turned 16 not so long ago and had been born and raised in Kilkenny, and that she had loved music practically all her life.

Not long after, the door to the flat opened and Daniel walked in and found to his surprise Harry sitting there drinking tea with a young girl.

“Hello Harry, decided to drop in did we?” he greeted him. It had been a couple of weeks since he’d seen him. “And who is your young lady friend?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Ah Daniel.. this is Kate O’Casey. Kate this is my..friend Daniel Chalmers,” Harry introduced them a little awkwardly.

“Charmed I’m sure Miss O’Casey,” Daniel said, laying on the gentlemanly charm as he took Kate’s hand in his and kissed it. She looked at him with some surprise.

“Pleased to meet you too Mr Chalmers,” she replied, wondering how Harry knew this man.

She’s Irish, Daniel noted her accent with interest. Figures, he thought to himself. Harry once again had surprised him – not by the fact he was there with a girl, but by the fact they were sitting there drinking tea, rather than doing what most adolescents would be doing if alone in a flat together. In fact Daniel was a bit surprised she was the first girl he had actually seen Harry with. Of course, he realised he didn’t know what he got up to when he wasn’t with him. He was a good looking lad of sixteen, almost seventeen, after all. He had filled out a bit since Daniel had first met him when he was a skinny fourteen year old who barely had enough food to fill his belly. Due largely to Daniel, he had eaten a lot better over the past couple of years – in fact, probably due to him never really having had enough to eat in the past, Harry had developed a healthy appetite. Despite that he was still lean and his physique teamed with his good looks and natural charm attracted quite a lot of female attention when they were out and about together, Daniel had noticed.

“Ah Harry.. may I have a word?” he asked. “Excuse us for a moment will you please Kate.” Daniel ushered him into one of the bedrooms, closing the door behind him.

“Harry – I do not allow you access to my flat in order for you to entertain young ladies here ,” Daniel reprimanded him as he gave him a knowing look.

Harry looked at him, a bit embarrassed and flustered. “Daniel.. I’m not ‘entertaining’ her and I know what you mean by that,” he shot back at him a little angrily . “In case you hadn’t noticed we were just chatting and having a cup of tea.”

“Yes and would you still be doing that for much longer if I hadn’t walked in when I did?” Daniel challenged him with a meaningful look. Harry didn’t have an answer for that - part of him suspected Daniel may have had a point. “Look I helped her with a guy who was hassling her and she offered to help clean me up,” he explained hurriedly.

Daniel then noticed the cut on his chin. “Fighting again Harry?” Daniel sighed as he shook his head, more than a little disappointed in him. He was trying to turn his young protégé into a proper gentleman, knowing that would open up so many more opportunities for him, and allow him to ‘graduate’ from small time pick pocket & petty thief to the much grander, sophisticated world of an accomplished con-artist and master thief. Harry was his ‘diamond in the rough’ and there were still quite a few rough edges to him. The boy had a wild temper, an anger that sometimes raged within him and it didn’t take much for him to get into a fight, his fists as quick as his tongue sometimes.

“Yes what’s it to you? You’re not my father you know – you can’t tell me what to do!” Harry threw at him angrily, his temper getting the better of him. Daniel paused for a second, an odd expression momentarily crossing his face, Harry observed, in response to his outburst.

Daniel then shook his head. “Oh Harry my boy I’m well aware I can’t tell you what to do but I can offer you some advice. Whilst it was noble of you to jump to the young lady’s defence, as you found out sometimes that can land you in quite a bit of trouble. Now believe it or not I was your age once too and I know what a distraction pretty young ladies can be at your age. But you’ve got to keep your eye on the game Harry – don’t lose sight of what’s important,” Daniel stated.

“Don’t worry - I won’t,” Harry stated somewhat coldly, his steeley gaze boring into Daniel as he stormed out of the room, leaving Daniel shaking his head again. “Oh Harry my boy you’ve got a lot to learn,” he muttered under his breath.

“C’mon Kate let’s get out of here,” Harry said to her as she looked at his angry expression with some surprise.

“Okay,” she agreed , somewhat perplexed, as they left Daniel’s place. He walked her back to the boarding house where she was staying. He was silent at first as they walked along and Kate wondered what the older man, Daniel, had said to him to change his mood so dramatically.

“I hope I didn’t cause any trouble between you & Mr Chalmers,” Kate said in an effort to break the silence.

Harry sighed and smiled at her, despite himself. “No you didn’t,” he reassured her. “That’s just Daniel & me – we clash sometimes. He doesn’t like me fighting. He’s trying to make me into some sort of gentleman or something,” he laughed a little wryly. ”You know, teach me how to talk proper and all that,’ he added with a grin, laying the accent on thick. “Like Eliza Doolittle in ‘ _My Fair Lady_ ’..ah Rex Harrison, Audrey Hepburn, Warner Bros, 1964,” he rattled off, his eyebrow wiggling mischievously as Kate looked at him quite amazed, thinking wow, he sure knows his movies.

“Well it seems to be working,” Kate replied, her voice soft as she looked at him intently. “That was a very gentlemanly thing you did for me today – coming to my rescue,” she added with a warm smile.

Harry felt a little embarrassed. “Ah it was noting,” he dismissed it.

“Not to me,” she stated as she gave him a peck on the cheek, blushing a little as she did so. At that a lopsided grin crossed Harry’s face.

By that time they were outside the boarding house where she was staying. “It was nice to meet you Harry. Thanks for walking me back. So.. um how do I find you?” Kate asked, a little shyly, wondering if she was being too forward by assuming he would want to see her again.

“Just ask around for Harry - people will let you know where to find me. Or I’ll find you,” he quipped with a cheeky grin as he grabbed her hand in his as Daniel had done & kissed it, eliciting a surprised laugh from her. “Hmm – maybe I am a proper gentleman after all,” he laughed with a devilish gleam in his deep blue eyes and then he was gone, running down the street…

 


	3. Chapter 3

Over the next couple of months Harry & Kate became firm friends, spending more & more time with each other. True to his word Harry started to teach Kate the art of pickpocketing and he had to admit she had a flair for it. Those quick fingers she used to play the guitar so well were just as adept at picking a pocket. In return she tried to teach him to play guitar but he failed miserably – he knew he didn’t have a musical bone in his body, which Kate confirmed with a laugh.

Over time they both realised their friendship was evolving into something deeper. They’d both been attracted to each other from the start and that attraction was getting stronger the more time they spent together. After a particularly successful afternoon of pick pocketing one day they were sitting, laughing together and Harry knew as he looked at her that he couldn’t help himself anymore. He leant over and kissed her, tentatively at first as he gauged her reaction but when she responded to him he quickly grew bolder.

It was like that one kiss had opened up something of a flood gate in both of them. “I was beginning to think you were never going to do that,” Kate said with a smile when they finally drew apart.

“Really? Why?” Harry asked, puzzled. She looked down at the ground a little embarrassed.

“Oh I don’t know.. I thought maybe you just thought of me as one of your mates.”

At this Harry smiled and gently tipped her chin up to face him. “You’re a lot prettier than my mates,” he quipped with a cheeky grin as she grinned too. “Anyway, there was nothing stopping you from kissing me first,” he pointed out.

“No I guess not,” Kate replied mischievously as she proceeded to do just that.

The heat that suddenly flared between them took them both a bit by surprise. “My mates never make me feel like this either,” Harry whispered, his voice husky as he looked at her intently, his eyes a deep cobalt blue and he put his arms around her, pulling her closer to him.

                ************************************************************

One night a couple of weeks later Harry was walking Kate back to the boarding house where she was staying when it started pouring rain. Neither of them were prepared for the weather so they temporarily sought shelter under a shop awning. When it didn’t show signs of easing up anytime soon Harry said with a grin,”Shall we make a run for it?”

Kate nodded & grinned back at him as he took her hand in his and they ran the rest of the way to the boarding house, getting soaked in the process as they laughed their heads off. They slowed up as they neared the gate, Harry pulling Kate into his arms. “I wish you didn’t have to go,” he whispered, his blue eyes holding hers intently.

“I wish I didn’t have to either,” Kate confessed with a smile as he brought his lips to hers, the kiss tender at first, then both of them gave in to the strong attraction they felt for each other, which seemed to be getting stronger the more time they spent together. They kissed for some time, oblivious to the rain and their surroundings.

“You’re getting wet Harry,” Kate murmured with a grin when they momentarily drew apart.

“I don’t care,” he replied with a grin and as he looked at her he couldn’t help noticing her t-shirt was soaked through, as he made a half-hearted attempt to avert his gaze from how it was clinging to her breasts.

“So are you Katie,” he remarked as he cocked an eyebrow at her and she laughed when she saw where his gaze was focused.

“I sure am,” she whispered huskily in his ear and he looked at her a little shocked at her boldness. He couldn’t deny that she was having a similar effect on him.  With that, his lopsided grin got even broader as he pulled her against him, his mouth finding hers again, demanding & receiving a very strong response.

“Katie..” he groaned against her lips as she ran her hands through his wet hair. He couldn’t help himself as his hands, seeming to have a mind of their own, travelled up from her waist, skimming the underside of her breasts. When she didn’t immediately protest he thought he’d try his luck a little further, and moved a hand up to cover one of her breasts, his action sending a shiver of desire through both of them.

Kate knew if they continued like this for much longer they wouldn’t be able to stop and part of her didn’t want to. Trying to think with her brain though, especially given they were on a public street, she rather reluctantly placed a hand on top of his wandering one and gently pulled it back down to her waist. In reply to his questioning, rather disappointed look she said, “I ah.. think I better go Harry,” but the look she gave him let him know that she was having an internal struggle with herself.

Harry run a frustrated hand through his hair, still trying to tear his eyes off her wet t-shirt. “Yeah I guess you better,” he admitted with a cheeky grin and a sigh, both of them a bit overwhelmed by the effect they had on each other.

 To break the simmering tension between them a bit Kate laughed,  “Remind me not to wear a light coloured t-shirt in the rain again.”

With that Harry grinned and wiggled his eyebrows devilishly at her “Oh I’m not complaining,” he quipped, his blue eyes twinkling with mischief.

“So I noticed,” Kate quipped back as she playfully hit him on the arm then planting a quick kiss on his lips, skipped out of his reach. “I’ll see you tomorrow Harry,” she said with a smile as she went to go inside the gate.

“Count on it O’Casey,” he grinned as he watched her go, the rain that was soaking him to the skin doing nothing to dampen the heat that was coursing through his body...

                                ********************************************

Harry headed back to Daniel’s after reluctantly leaving Kate and was glad to find he had the place to himself - he would have been a bit embarrassed to walk into the flat in front of Daniel in his current condition. God that girl turned him on, he thought to himself with a lopsided grin, as he walked into his bedroom and stripped off his wet clothes.

He remembered the way Kate had felt under his hands and the way she’d kissed him and responded to his touch, something that a certain part of his anatomy was definitely still reminding him of. He’d been rather disappointed when she’d put a halt to proceedings but he respected her wishes but still…, it was getting more difficult to put the brakes on every time they were together.

It would have surprised Harry’s mates he was sure, if they knew that he had yet to experience ‘that magical moment’ with a girl. He’d had plenty of opportunities to do so and had certainly done his fair share of kissing and some other stuff, but he’d been hesitant to go all the way. Of course he would never admit that to his friends – they all maintained they’d ‘done it’ plenty of times, even weedy, little Chalkie claimed to have had lots of girls, which Harry found somewhat difficult to believe as he’d always observed him striking out with the fairer sex. So Harry went along with the pretence, making out he was more experienced than he actually was.

Maybe it was all the movies he’d watched, but deep down Harry was a romantic at heart – when he did go all the way he wanted it to mean something more than just the physical act. He wanted to feel something for the girl and she for him. But then again, there were some times like today for example, when his natural adolescent urges took over and he thought to hell with it, why don’t you just get it over with Harry? On his sixteenth birthday Daniel had offered to take him to a ‘reputable establishment’ he had assured him, to relieve him ‘of the burden of his virginity.’ Although he’d been tempted, he’d also been somewhat embarrassed at the thought and had politely declined Daniel’s offer, assuring him that he’d already been ‘relieved of that burden.’ He didn’t know whether Daniel believed him or not – he had simply nodded with that knowing smile of his and said, “As you wish Harry my boy – but the offer still stands if you ever.. feel the need shall we say.”

He wondered if Kate had been affected as he was – she certainly seemed to be by the way she responded to him. Maybe he should broach the subject with her, he thought to himself, but how? He wasn’t exactly sure how she’d react but he was quietly confident that he wasn’t the only one who felt the strong attraction between them. Harry had never felt for a girl what he did for Kate - apart from the effect she had on his body, she also warmed his heart. He felt like she knew him like no-one else ever had.

A smile crossed his face as he thought of her smile, the way her green eyes sparkled at him, the way she ran her hands through his hair when they kissed, the way she had pressed herself against him in the rain… These thoughts were starting to have a marked effect on his already aroused body he realised – well sport you can either go take a very cold shower or do something else, he thought to himself. With a cheeky grin he opted for the latter seeing as he had the place to himself, thinking well I may as well enjoy myself.  He closed his eyes and imagined Kate’s hand on him instead of his own and it was her name he called as he found his release, wondering if his fantasy would ever become a reality..

Meanwhile..

Once Kate got up to her room she leant back against her door and took a deep breath, trying to get her heartrate back to normal. She splashed some cold water on her face in a vain attempt to cool herself down. Oh that boy and what he did to her, she thought with a rueful shake of her head as she couldn’t help the smile that crossed her face. She knew she probably should have stopped him earlier when his hands had started wandering as they kissed in the rain, but part of her didn’t want  him to stop. Harry made her feel things she’d never felt before - sure she’d kissed a few fellas before but Eamon Mulligan for example, had never made her feel like this in the little laneway behind Ryan’s pub back home in Kilkenny where they’d kissed a few times. Those kisses paled in comparison to those she shared with Harry – that guy certainly knew how to kiss she reflected, his kisses alternating between sweet & tender and passionate & demanding, that left her weak at the knees. And the way he touched her and whispered her name left her yearning for more.

Her strict Catholic upbringing by the nuns in the orphanages she had spent most of her younger years in told her that to think about doing that before you were married was wrong. But how could what she felt for Harry be wrong when it felt so right? she thought to herself. And it wasn’t just physical, although she had to admit, that was a big part of the attraction she felt for him. He was her best friend as well as her boyfriend, and he made her feel safe & secure, something that had been sadly lacking for Kate in her young life. Every time they were together it was getting harder and harder to resist him – one look from those gorgeous blue eyes of his and she was a goner. She felt like she was drowning in him every time she looked at them or he flashed her a lopsided grin, until all that mattered was him.  And anyway it was the Sixties – the era of ‘free love’ - everyone was doing it, or so they said, she thought to herself. And Kate O’Casey was never one to do as she was told, at any rate.

Still, she felt a bit nervous about the prospect of ‘going all the way’. She assumed Harry was more experienced than her, and given his looks and charm, she was sure he’d had no shortage of girls throwing themselves at him. She wondered if he’d be disappointed with her lack of experience, but he certainly hadn’t felt disappointed just now, she thought to herself with a cheeky grin, as his arousal had been very evident. And although her reaction wasn’t quite as evident to him, it had been just as strong she realised – she’d felt like she was turning to jelly when he’s palmed her breast and she’d wondered how her legs had continued to support her. She was somewhat amazed she’d been able to regain some semblance of self-control and hold him off, but she had to admit it had left her feeling as frustrated as it had him. She knew she couldn’t deny him forever and she also knew she didn’t want to – it was only a matter of time..

_A few weeks later.._

“Harry..” Kate whispered in a half-hearted protest as his hand started travelling up her leg. Ever since they had shared their first kiss a few weeks before, every time they had been together since they had seemed to be headed in one definite direction, their feelings for each other becoming too strong to fight.

“What..?” he murmured absently as he continued kissing her and his hand continued on its determined course. Kate could feel her defences weakening – the way he made her feel and the way she felt about him were a powerful combination that she was finding harder and harder to resist.  With every ounce of self control she possessed she put a restraining hand on his, wondering to herself if she were crazy. “You know what,” she said as she gave him a meaningful look.

Harry blew out a somewhat frustrated breath. “C’mon Katie – can you look me in the eye and tell me you’re not feeling the same way I am?” he said, his blue eyes holding hers intently. She avoided his intense gaze for a moment.

“You know I am,” she confessed, as she blushed a little.

“Well what’s the problem then?” he asked, his voice soft, and the look on his face made him look so much like a little boy who’d just been denied access to a lolly jar that she almost said yes right then & there. She hesitated for a moment then said “Harry, I’ve never.. well, you know.. gone all the way before,” she confessed as she blushed even more.

At that a slightly embarrassed grin crossed his face. “Neither have I,” he admitted as she looked at him in shock. She’d assumed that he was more experienced than her. “Really? I guess I just thought you..” she went to reply but he shook his head and blushed a little himself.  He paused for a moment as he tilted her face up to his then said “But I’d like to... with you.”

Kate smiled at him, knowing she felt the same. “Me too,” she confessed as his grin broadened. “I.. um.. guess we should be a bit more prepared though. I don’t have anything.. unless you do?” she went on, a little embarrassed, as was he when he realised what she was referring to. “Ah.. no I don’t..,” he confessed with a hint of disappointment. “But I could always get some,” he added with a mischievous twinkle in his blue eyes.

He paused for a moment then said, “Ah.. Daniel’s going away this weekend so we’d have the place to ourselves..?” he left the questioning hanging, waiting for her response. It didn’t take long for Kate to make up her mind. She was a bit nervous at the prospect but she knew that she loved Harry and that he would make it all right. She had fallen for him hard and fast. And she couldn’t deny the attraction she felt for him – he made her feel things she’d never felt before. “Okay,” she replied with a smile. He smiled back at her as he kissed her, a kiss full of passion & promise, wondering to himself how he was going to get through the rest of the week while he waited expectantly for the weekend to arrive.


	4. Chapter 4

Around 7 pm the next Saturday night Kate arrived at Daniel’s flat. She hesitated for a moment before knocking on the door trying to calm her nerves a bit. ‘C’mon O’Casey get your act together girl’ she told herself firmly as she knocked on the door. It only took Harry a moment or two to open it.

“Hi,” he greeted her with a lopsided grin, trying to hide his own nerves.

“Hi,” she replied with a smile as they kissed and he let her in. As she entered the flat she smelt a delicious aroma. “Are you cooking Harry?” she asked with surprise as he nodded with a grin.

“Don’t get too excited – it’s just roast beef and vegies,” he quipped as she looked at him with amazement - he never ceased to surprise her.

“I didn’t know you could cook,” Kate stated as she followed him into the kitchen.

“Daniel taught me and I’ve picked up a couple of things here and there,” he explained.

“Thankyou – this is really nice that you’ve gone to all this trouble,” she said sincerely as she came up to him and put her arms around him.

“Well I wanted it to be special,” he replied with a dazzling smile as she reached up and kissed him. He kissed her back and almost forgot the roast in the oven as they started to get lost in each other. “Ah.. I better finish getting dinner ready eh?”  he stated with a grin as they finally drew away from each other. “But hold that thought,” he quipped, his eyebrows going up devilishly as Kate laughed.

“Can I give you a hand?” she asked.

“Ah.. you can pour us some wine if you like,” he said with a grin as he handed her a bottle and two glasses.

“Where did you get this from?” she asked with a chuckle.

“Daniel has a stash he doesn’t know I know about,” Harry laughed as did Kate. She wasn’t really used to opening wine bottles but she managed to get it open and poured them both a glass, both of them glad to have a bit of alcohol to calm their nerves a bit.

Before too long dinner was ready and Harry served it up, although both of them were finding it hard to concentrate on eating. “This is pretty good,” Kate stated appreciatively in an attempt to make conversation.

“Thanks,” Harry replied looking intently at her as he did so. Once they had finished eating he cleared the plates away, taking a deep breath while he was in the kitchen to try & calm himself down a bit. Kate also took a moment to try & calm herself down as well.

He came back out, a lopsided, slightly nervous grin on his face. “So..,” he started to say, his blue eyes twinkling at her.

“So..” Kate replied with a smile of her own as they both laughed which helped break the tension a bit.

‘Um..shall we..?” he nodded towards the bedroom he used when he stayed at Daniel’s.

“We shall,” Kate replied, deciding to put her fears & nervousness aside, especially as Harry looked as nervous as she felt.

He took her by the hand and led her towards his bedroom. “Ah.. unless you’d prefer Daniel’s room? He’s got a bigger bed,” he pointed out with a wry grin.

Kate shook her head – somehow she wouldn’t feel right doing it in there. “Yours is fine – I’m sure we’ll make do,” she replied with a cheeky smile as he cocked an eyebrow at her. “I’m sure we will,” he replied.

They stepped inside the room as Harry turned on the bedside lamp. it was a relatively small but cosy room – it just had the basics, a single bed, closet, a small desk & chair and a set of drawers next to the bed where Harry kept some of his meagre possessions. Not exactly sure what to do next, Kate sat down on the bed. Following her lead Harry sat down next to her and as he took her hand in his, Kate realised he was trembling a little which melted her heart, as she realised for all his bravado he was often still that scared little boy deep down.

Kate smiled as she gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. “Harry..it’s okay,” she said softly as he turned to look at her. “I want this as much as you do,” she reassured him, her eyes holding his. “I don’t have any more of an idea of what I’m doing than you do but I guess we can figure it out together hey?” she added gently, her smile doing something to him he couldn’t quite explain.

“I know,” he replied. “I just want it to be good for you.. for us..” he admitted, his blue eyes shining with emotion.

“It will be,” Kate stated sincerely as he nodded with a smile of his own.

Encouraged by her words Harry leant towards her & kissed her, softly at first, as Kate responded to him. It didn’t take long before that wasn’t enough for either of them. Her mouth opened under his gentle coaxing, as his tongue circled her lips before delving into her mouth. “Oh Katie,” he murmured, his voice thick with passion as he pulled her closer to him, needing to feel her against him. She was momentarily taken aback as she felt his hard arousal pressing insistently against her but when his kisses started trailing down her neck any remaining doubts she may have had quickly disappeared as she gave in to the feelings he was evoking in her, realising the effect she had on him was the same as he had on her.

His fingers shaking a little, he began unbuttoning her blouse, fumbling a little as he did so which caused them both to laugh a little. She shrugged it off as his hands found her breasts, not quite believing he was actually touching her like this – sure he’d felt her before but never quite like this. Wanting to touch her fully his hands worked his way round her back to undo the clasp of her bra. “God.. how do these bloody things come off?” he muttered in frustration as he struggled with it. “Need a hand do you?” Kate giggled a bit as he nodded gratefully. She undid it and let it fall as Harry swallowed hard as he looked at her.

Kate felt a little self-conscious as his eyes travelled over her but when he smiled his dazzling smile at her and said, his voice barely a whisper, “Katie.. you are absolutely beautiful,” she forgot her self-consciousness. Emboldened a bit by his actions and thinking to herself, ’Fairs fair”, she tugged his t-shirt out of his jeans and pulled it off him, revealing his chest with its covering of dark hair. Now it was Kate’s turn to admire as she took in the lean lines of his torso. Her actions mirrored his as they touched and stroked, learning what each other liked and revelling in the feel of each other’s body under their hands.

Harry was struggling a bit to keep himself under control. He wanted to take it slow and make it good for her but his groin was throbbing so hard he thought he might lose it before he even got his jeans off. With a degree of self-control he didn’t know he possessed he tore his mouth away from Kate’s for a moment to try and slow himself down and catch his breath. “What’s the matter?” she asked with concern as he shook his head and grinned at her.

“Nothing, nothing at all. It’s just I ..ah.. don’t want this to be over before it starts if you get my drift,” he stated a little ruefully. Kate grinned at him as she got his meaning. “Well I guess we better get a move on then hey?’  she replied mischievously as her hands travelled down to his belt buckle and he watched with some amazement as she undid it and his zip, leaving him breathless in the process.

He got up momentarily and pulled off his jeans and kicked off his socks & shoes as well. Clad only in his briefs, he was momentarily embarrassed as he saw Kate looking at his very evident arousal. “Well.. ah you can see the effect you have on me Katie,” he quipped as he sat back down next to her. “You have me at a distinct disadvantage as my effect on you isn’t quite as evident.” he murmured, his blue eyes holding hers with a smouldering gaze. With that Kate grabbed him & pulled him to her and kissed him in a way that left him in no doubt as to the effect he had on her. “That answer your question?” she murmured huskily as he nodded, unable to find his voice.

With that he skimmed a hand over her hip and unzipped her skirt and pulled it off, then he lay her down on the bed next to him. His lips found hers again as his hand travelled up her leg and unlike previously when she’d stopped him from going any further, this time she didn’t, needing his touch. He gently caressed her as her breath caught in her throat. She murmured his name as he continued to arouse her, wanting to make it good for her. ”These need to go I think,” he quipped with a devilish grin as he tugged off her underwear and took a moment to look at her as she blushed from head to toe. “You look gorgeous when you blush, do you know that?” he whispered as he tenderly traced a long, slender finger along her cheek.

She smiled at him as she covered his hand with her own. “You look pretty damn gorgeous yourself you know,” she replied than added mischievously, “Speaking of things that need to go,” as her hand found him through his briefs. “Katie..” he groaned at the feel of her hand on him as he quickly divested himself of his briefs.

“Um.. Harry you have got something haven’t you?” Kate asked, giving him a meaningful look as she took in the sight of his wonderfully naked body. Harry grinned, glad she’d remembered as he was starting to get a bit lost in the moment, in fact he was a bit surprised he’d been able to hold off for this long. “Yeah I do,” he replied as he grabbed his discarded jeans and searched through the pockets, coming up with a little foil packet.

“Ah.. give me a sec,” Harry said, a little embarrassed as he turned away from her for a moment. In his eagerness he fumbled a little bit, swearing under his breath as he did so.

Kate tried to hide a smile. “Um.. do you need a hand?” she offered , although she thought ruefully to herself, I don’t have any more idea than he does how to put one on.

He laughed a little wryly. “Thanks but I’m right. Trust me Katie if you gave me a hand now I’d probably embarrass myself,” he admitted with a grin, knowing that he was very close to the edge.

With that he gently pushed her back on the bed, covering her body with his. God, this is really happening, Kate thought to herself as she felt him pressing against her. He kissed her tenderly as he slowly entered her. When she gasped involuntarily he stopped moving and looked at her with concern. He’d heard it could be hard for girls the first time and the last thing he wanted to do was hurt her.

“Are you okay?” he asked gently. Kate bit her lip and nodded as she reached up a hand to brush a lock of hair off his face.

“It’s okay,” she reassured him with a smile.  With that his hand travelled down again to where they were joined, his fingers finding her most sensitive spot as he began slowly moving, biting his own lip so he could hold off a bit longer to give her a chance to join him as he went over the edge.  As she began moving with him he found himself losing control. “Katie..oh God.. I’m going to..” he muttered, his breath ragged.

“Harry.. it’s okay.,.” Kate went to reply but she then temporarily lost the power of speech as she hit the peak with him, the two of them clinging to each other as they rode the wave together.

He finally collapsed on top of her, his breathing still ragged as she ran her hands through his hair and held him to her. Finally he lifted his head to look at her, the smile on his face mirroring hers, and she felt herself drowning in his blue eyes. “I love you Katie,” he stated, his defences completely blown away as Kate felt like her heart would burst.

“I love you too Harry,” she replied as she kissed him tenderly, trying to fight back her tears of happiness as they reluctantly drew apart. After he’d attended quickly to something he hopped back into the bed next to her, enveloping her in his arms as she nestled into the now familiar warmth of his body and they fell into a contented sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Kate awoke the next morning, her head on Harry’s bare chest and his arm around her. She smiled as she nestled into him and he pulled her closer to him in his sleep. She couldn’t remember ever feeling as safe & secure as she did in his arms – it just felt..right, where she was meant to be. As she remembered the night before and how it had felt to make love to him for the first time her smile got  a little wider.  She watched him while he slept, marvelling at how handsome he was - from his thick black hair to the long lashes on his beautiful blue eyes, his sensuous lips, the hint of stubble on his strong jaw and his long, lean frame.  But she also knew there was more to him than just good looks - she had never met anyone with a heart as big as his, or a wit as quick. And when he smiled his lopsided grin at her it took her breath away. She had never felt about anyone the way she felt about her Harry.  

As she watched him, he smiled in his sleep and she wondered what he was dreaming about. He then rolled over towards her so their bodies were pressed together and she realised as a grin crossed her face that whatever he was dreaming about had not only put a smile on his face but had also had a marked effect on another part of his body. With that thought in mind she softly brought her lips to his and kissed him, whispering, “Harry.” He stirred a little then opened one eye and then the other and as he saw her lying there in his arms smiling at him, a lopsided grin crossed his face.

“Morning Katie,” he greeted her. “Morning Harry”, Kate replied and as he yawned and stretched she quipped cheekily, “Well it seems one part of you in particular is pretty awake.” At that a slightly embarrassed look crossed Harry’s face as he realised what she was referring to . “Ah yeah.. sorry about that.. it does that sometimes,” he muttered hurriedly with a sheepish grin. “You don’t have to apologise Harry – I’m not complaining,” Kate reassured him with a mischievous twinkle in her green eyes as her hand travelled southwards to caress his very evident arousal through his briefs. “Katie!” he exclaimed with both surprise and excitement. “What Harry?” she asked in a seemingly innocent voice as he shook his head and grinned ruefully at her, his hips involuntarily moving against her as she continued to arouse him.

“I thought you might..” she continued as she started planting kisses on his face, “want to continue..,” as she kissed him passionately on the mouth, “where we left off last night. Seeing as you seem to be up for it,” she giggled as she then kissed that spot on his neck, just under his ear, that she had discovered the night before that drove him a little crazy. Harry chuckled as a moan escaped his lips, “What are you trying to do to me Katie?” as she flashed him a cheeky grin and replied, “Why? Is it working?”. Harry pulled her onto his chest, then holding her face in his hands he whispered, “I’ll show you how much it’s working O’Casey,” as he kissed her deeply. When they finally drew apart they were both rather breathless. “God you’re so hot Katie,” Harry murmured as his blue eyes twinkled at her with love and desire and he pulled her bra straps down. “Takes one to know one Harry,” Kate replied with a look in her eyes that mirrored his as she reached up to kiss him again, his tongue tangling with hers as his hands went to the back of her bra and unlike the night before when he had fumbled with it, he now managed to undo it easily. Kate grinned as he cocked an eyebrow at her and quipped cheekily , “I’m a fast learner.”

“So you are,” she laughed as he pulled her bra off and tossed it aside, an appreciative grin crossing his face as he feasted his eyes on her, then his hands went to where his gaze was focused. As he skimmed his hands lightly at first over her breasts and then a bit more firmly, Kate couldn’t help the moan that escaped her lips. “You like that Katie?” Harry breathed as she nodded, her voice momentarily failing her as he repeated the action and she bit her lip involuntarily. As she shifted her hips slightly Kate felt the reaction his body had to her action and a mischievous grin crossed her face. In reply to her grin Harry chuckled a little then confessed with a lopsided grin of his own, “It drives me crazy when you do that babe – it’s so damn sexy.”

“Do what Harry?” Kate asked, unaware of what she’d done that had such an effect on him. “When you bite your lip like that,” he replied as he lovingly traced a thumb over her bottom lip. “I must remember to do it more often then,” she laughed with a mischievous gleam in her green eyes as she closed her lips around his thumb and sucked on it as he drew in a sharp intake of breath, her action flaring a hot lick of desire in his belly, not to mention a bit lower down. Spurred on by his reaction, Kate smiled at him then started trailing kisses down his neck and chest as he groaned with pleasure. When she got to his stomach she paused for a moment and looked up at him. “You are driving me crazy O’Casey,” he confessed, his voice strained as his rock hard arousal also strained against the confinement of his briefs. With that Kate winked at him and replied in a teasing voice, “Oh I’m just getting started Harry,” as she began tugging his briefs down while he watched amazed. Oh sport, you’ve unleashed a wild woman, he thought to himself with a grin, enjoying every minute of it.

Once she’d freed him from his confinement, Kate first closed a hand around him and his hips bucked involuntarily towards her, and then when she replaced her hand with her mouth Harry felt like he would lose it right then and there. Now it was Kate’s turn to ask with a grin, “Oh you like that huh?” as she felt him tensing underneath her as she continued her ministrations. Harry nodded wordlessly, afraid if he spoke, the small sliver of self-control he had left would disappear. He fisted one hand in her hair while the other gripped the bed sheet underneath him, as he felt himself rapidly nearing the edge. Although he was very tempted to let go and ride the wave of pleasure that was threatening to crash over him, Harry also felt an overwhelming desire to take Kate with him, to join his body with hers as he’d done last night. With that thought in mind he gently tugged her head up and pulled her back up his body, then in one smooth move he flipped them over so she was underneath him.

A bit surprised by his actions, as she had suspected he was close to going over the edge, Kate asked “Harry? What are you doing?”. In response Harry trailed a hand down her body until he found his final destination, his long lean fingers zeroing in on her most sensitive spot. “Answer your question Katie?” he replied with a slow, sexy grin that reduced her to jelly. “Uh huh,” she managed to get out as he stripped off her underwear as she’d done to him and continued to arouse her. His mouth found one of her breasts while his hand was busy and when Kate involuntarily arched against him a smile crossed his face, as he tried to keep himself in check. “How does that feel Katie?” he whispered as she replied, “Amazing,” between ragged breaths. With that Kate reached over to the bedside table and grabbed the box Harry had left there the night before, knowing she didn’t want to wait any longer. Just like Harry, she wanted to experience again the ultimate pleasure she’d shared with him the night before, their bodies moving together as one. “Harry..,” she said rather urgently, her voice almost pleading,  as she handed him the box. Taking the hint and grinning at the effect they had on each other, Harry grabbed the box and pulled out a little foil wrapper and ripping it open he quickly sheathed himself, then not able to control himself any more he entered her as she wrapped her legs around him.

Unlike the previous night when he’d taken his time so as not to hurt her, now he found the rapidly building wave engulfing him, as he moved harder and faster while Kate matched him stroke for stroke, urging him on as their mouths found each others and they kissed passionately. As the bed started squeaking in time with their almost frenzied actions, Kate couldn’t help but giggle as a grin crossed Harry’s face. “Hope these walls aren’t thin,” she laughed as she clung on to him and Harry laughed too and wiggled his eyebrows at her, “So do I,” and as they continued moving together they very rapidly hit the peak together, as they cried out each other’s names. As they came back down to earth Harry propped himself up on his elbows so as to not collapse on top of her and rested his forehead against hers, both of them a bit shell shocked at the heat of the passion that had just flared between them and trying to catch their breath.

“Oh Katie.. that was…,” Harry panted, not able to find the words to do it justice as Kate nodded in agreement as she reached up and brushed a lock of hair off his face. “I know right..” she replied with a satisfied smile on her face. “Sorry.. I didn’t hurt you did I? I lost control a bit – I just couldn’t help myself..” Harry apologised, a look of concern on his face. Kate smiled at him as she tenderly stroked his cheek. “No of course you didn’t. Are you kidding me? That was incredible,” she reassured him as a relieved look crossed his face.

With that Harry rolled over and pulled Kate with him, enveloping her in his arms. “You blow my mind Kate O’Casey.. as well as other things,” he quipped cheekily as she grinned and playfully hit him. “Oh I know the feeling Harry.. trust me. I’m just glad we didn’t break your bed,” she laughed as did he. “Well it’s getting a work out – that’s for sure,” Harry replied with a grin as Kate nodded and rested her head on his chest , where she could hear his still rapidly beating heart. They were silent for a few moments as Kate idly ran a hand through the hair on Harry’s chest as he ran a hand up and down her back, the two of them unable to stop touching each other. They were so physically in tune with each other it was amazing, they both thought to themselves, both instinctively knowing what the other liked. And they both knew that as well as their very strong physical connection they also shared a very strong emotional one as well.

With that thought in mind, Kate propped herself up on an elbow and looking him in the eye asked the question she needed to know the answer to. “Did you mean what you said last night? After we.. well you know.” When he didn’t immediately reply she continued, “You do remember what you said don’t you? Or were you just caught up in the moment?” she voiced her fear, her eyes searching his for an answer. At that his blue eyes lit up and the grin that she loved crossed his face as he reached up and tenderly traced her cheek. “You mean when I said I loved you?” he asked as she nodded silently. “Of course I remember saying it Katie and of course I meant it – I didn’t just say it in the heat of the moment. I said it then because in that moment all my defences were blown away and I needed you to know how much you meant to me,” he reassured her as she smiled and kissed him. “I love you too Harry – like I’ve never loved one anyone else or ever will,” Kate confessed. “Come here,” he whispered as he pulled her head back down to his chest, next to his heart where she belonged.

After just lying together like that for a few minutes Harry ran a hand through Kate’s hair and asked, “Do you fancy some breakfast? I don’t know about you Katie but I’m famished.” Kate nodded as he hopped out of the bed and pulled his briefs back on. “Need a hand?” she offered as he shook his head. “Nah it’s fine – you just relax,” he replied with a grin. Before too long he had whipped them up some scrambled eggs, toast and bacon and brought their plates into the bedroom. He rejoined Kate in the bed and as she watched him walk into the room carrying two plates and clad only in his briefs she cast an appreciative glance over his long, lean physique. “Now that’s a sight I could get used to every morning,” she chuckled with a grin as Harry grinned back at her and cocked an eyebrow at her. “My sentiments exactly Katie,” he quipped cheekily as he also cast an appreciative eye over her.

They then tucked into the food, laughing and chatting and occasionally feeding each other as they did so. As Harry watched Kate laughing at something he’d said he thanked his lucky stars he had found her – she was beautiful inside and out and she understood him like no-one else had ever done. And they way her gorgeous green eyes lit up when she laughed or sang, or even when she looked at him, did something to him he couldn’t quite explain. With that thought in mind he took both of their finished plates and put them on the bedside table and kissed her, slowly and tenderly, as Kate felt herself melting. They kissed leisurely for a while and as Kate felt his body responding to her again a smile crossed her face. “Again?” she asked with a cheeky laugh as Harry flashed her a mischievous grin and replied, “Well it’s your fault O’Casey for being too irresistible.”

“Takes one to know one Harry,” Kate replied as she ran a hand through his hair. Remembering what Kate had done for him before, Harry started trailing kisses down her neck, then over her breasts and stomach and as his kisses trailed lower a gasp escaped Kate’s lips. “Harry..” she murmured as he smiled up at her. “Relax Katie and just enjoy,” he whispered, his voice smooth and sexy, as he zeroed in on where she needed him the most, which got the desired response from her. Instinctively knowing what to do to please her he quickly brought her to the edge then whispering, “I love you Katie,” he took her over the edge, holding her to him as she grabbed his hair and rode the wave of pleasure that engulfed her. Then before she’d had a chance to come down from her high, he slowly joined his body with hers and she joined him on the climb upwards again, as they slowly and tenderly moved as one, finally hitting the peak together.

Afterwards they lay in each other’s arms again, both of them feeling extremely happy and satisfied. After a while Kate looked at Harry’s bedside clock and reluctantly said, “I guess I should get going. What time do you expect Daniel back?”

“I don’t know and I don’t care,” Harry replied with a grin as he kissed her. “Well you mightn’t but I do – I don’t want him walking in on us,” Kate replied with a laugh then she added a little more seriously, “Plus I get the feeling he doesn’t like me all that much.” At that Harry shook his head with a grin, ”C’mon O’Casey – who wouldn’t like you?” Kate smiled gratefully at him and kissed him then got out of the bed and started getting dressed. “I don’t know – maybe he thinks you’re spending too much time with me or something? What’s the deal with him anyway? He acts like he’s your father or something sometimes,” she added as Harry shrugged. “I don’t know – that’s just Daniel I guess. Anyway enough about him – I’m more interested in convincing you to get back into this bed with me eh?” Harry replied with a cheeky lopsided grin as he grabbed her hand and tried to pull her back down. “Harry!” Kate laughed as she relented a bit and kissed him then continued getting dressed. “I gotta go – I’ve got to earn some money and if I don’t get down to the Tube station soon I’ll miss all the good busking spots – now stop pouting and looking so goddamn sexy will you,” she added as she flashed him the ‘O’Casey grin’ and he grinned back at her. “Look who’s talking Katie,” Harry replied as he wiggled his eyebrows at her and she couldn’t help but laugh again.

“I’ll see you tonight then?” Kate said as she pulled her shoes on - they had arranged to meet their friends at the local pub that night. “You sure will O’Casey. I’ll swing by yours around six eh?” Harry replied as he grabbed her again and kissed her thoroughly before very reluctantly letting her go. “Sounds good to me. See you later Harry – I had a wonderful time,” Kate replied with a warm smile. With that she got up and walked to the door of the flat with Harry hot on her heels. He grabbed her hand and pulled her into his arms and said with a lopsided grin, “I had a wonderful time too Katie – in case you didn’t notice.”

“Oh I think I did tiger,” Kate replied with a wink as his grin got wider. “Tiger?” he asked curiously as a cheeky grin crossed Kate’s face. “Yes tiger – it’s my new nickname for you. Cause you’re sleek and sexy,” she replied with a mischievous twinkle in her green eyes as she kissed him one last time then opened the door and stepped outside. Momentarily forgetting his current state of undress Harry went to follow her but she put a hand on his chest to stop him, laughing as she did so. “Ah you may want to put some pants on first Harry – plus the neighbours are watching,” she pointed out as he grinned a little sheepishly. “Ok, ok,” he relented with a laugh of his own. ”Go on get out of here O’Casey before I drag you back inside,” he added with a grin as Kate grinned back then she skipped down the front stairs and headed off down the street as he headed back inside, both her and Harry feeling like they were walking on air..

Once Kate reached the boarding house where she was staying. she went in the front door and was climbing the stairs to her room when she passed Mrs Smith, the landlady. She looked at Kate disapprovingly and said in an accusing tone, “Where were you last night Miss O’Casey? I didn’t see you come in.” Kate bit back the expletive laden retort that immediately sprang to her lips, after all she did need a roof over her head and they were pretty hard to come by on her meagre earnings, she thought to herself. But by the same token, if there was one thing Kate hated it was being told what to do. She sighed and forced a smile onto her face. “I stayed over a friend’s place,” she replied, then added coolly with a determined set to her jaw, “And quite frankly my whereabouts are none of your business.” At that Mrs Smith gave her a look that was a mixture of shock, anger and judgement. “Oh I wasn’t born yesterday. I’ve seen that young lout you’ve been spending time with – he’s nothing but trouble, you mark my words my girl!” she stated condescendingly. That really got Kate’s back up – she loved Harry and her fierce loyalty towards him wouldn’t stand for someone saying anything against him.  Her eyes narrowed a bit as she shot back, trying to keep her temper in check, “I think I’ll be the judge of that and I’m not your girl! Now if you’ll excuse me I have things to do,” as she stormed off up the stairs leaving the older woman shaking her head at her.

Meanwhile Harry had quickly put their breakfast plates in the sink and was going to wash them up but then decided to jump in the shower and get dressed first. As he showered, Harry couldn’t help whistling happily to himself as he thought back over the previous night and that morning that he’d shared with Kate. Once he’d showered he shaved and while he did so he grinned at his reflection, thinking to himself, ‘Well you’re a man now sport’. He had just emerged from the bathroom and was pulling on a t-shirt as he headed towards the kitchen to wash up, when the door to the flat opened and Daniel walked in. “Good morning Harry my boy,” Daniel greeted him with a smile as he observed the expression on the teenager’s face – he looked almost..guilty. ”Oh hi Daniel,” Harry replied, trying to sound casual, as he ran a hand through his hair, “I didn’t expect you home this early.” Daniel arched a curious eyebrow at him. “Well I managed to finish my ‘business’ dealings a bit ahead of time so I decided to come home a bit earlier. That’s not a problem is it?”

“Oh no of course not,” Harry replied a little hurriedly. “I ah just haven’t had a chance to clean up yet that’s all – I slept in a bit,” he added as he headed into the kitchen with Daniel not far behind. “Oh I could do with a good strong coffee,” Daniel commented as he walked past the sink to put the kettle on and as he did so he spied two plates in the sink which he found a little strange. One of his young protégé’s most surprising traits, given his background, was his fastidiousness – he couldn’t imagine Harry having left plates unwashed from the night before. Which got him thinking – why was there two plates there? And then realisation dawned on him as he thought to himself that would explain the young man’s somewhat odd reaction to him arriving home early. He’s had a girl here, Daniel thought to himself as he tried not to smile, but then as he thought to himself who the young lady was likely to be the smile somewhat faded from his face. I bet it’s that infernal young Irish lass – Kay or Kate or whatever her name was, he thought to himself, knowing that his young protege had become quite smitten of late with the girl.

Not being able to help himself though, Daniel decided to have a bit of fun with the boy. “Feeling a bit hungry this morning were we Harry?” he remarked as he nodded towards the two plates. Harry paled for a moment then almost immediately regained his composure – the mark of a good conman in the making, Daniel thought proudly to himself. “Oh yes I was so hungry I had to have two plates of breakfast,” he replied quickly with a grin as Daniel regarded him with a knowing twinkle in his eye, thinking to himself, hmm you still need to work on your lying skills my boy. “Worked up an appetite did you?” Daniel retorted as Harry blushed bright red for a moment then hurriedly excused himself, leaving Daniel chuckling to himself and shaking his head a little.

As Daniel observed Harry for the rest of the day he became even more convinced his hunch was correct. The boy was very distracted and kept looking at the clock every 5 minutes and kept walking around with a huge grin on his face. At one point he turned to Daniel and asked, “Daniel do I look any different to you? Older perhaps?”. Daniel tried to hide his grin as he put down the newspaper he’d been reading and regarded the younger man. “Hmm not really Harry – why do you ask?” he replied as Harry looked a little disappointed and replied ,”Oh no reason.”

When it was just after five Harry jumped up and headed in for another shower, then disappeared into his room for quite a while, finally emerging and asking Daniel if he could borrow some of his aftershave. “There’s a suit in there you can borrow too if you’re out to impress someone,” Daniel called as Harry stuck his head out of the bedroom with a frown on his face. “Me? Wear a suit? You’ve got to be kidding Daniel,” he replied quickly as his mentor shrugged. “Well it’s up to you Harry, but a well cut suit always turned a young lady’s head back in my day.” With that a cheeky lopsided grin crossed Harry’s face as he came out wearing a denim jacket, jeans and black shirt. “Well we’re not back in the olden days anymore Daniel and I don’t think I need a suit to turn a young lady’s head,” he quipped devilishly as he headed towards the door, giving Daniel a not so subtle hint that he had indeed been ‘entertaining’ a young lady while Daniel had been away. “Go on off with you then, you cheeky blighter,” Daniel laughed affectionately. “Will you be back tonight Harry?” he asked him. Harry turned back to look at him, his blue eyes twinkling with mischief in a way that reminded Daniel so much of someone from his past that he stopped short for a moment, looking at the young boy who was fast becoming a man. “Not sure Daniel, not sure,” he replied with a cheeky cock to his eyebrow, not unlike the way Daniel did it himself. “Well have fun,” Daniel said with a warm smile as Harry quipped “Always do,” then as he went to step out the door Daniel called after him, “Harry my boy..”.  “Yes Daniel?” Harry replied, a bit puzzled by the expression on the older man’s face. “Be careful,” Daniel stated seriously, his words having a double meaning as Harry nodded and grinned then disappeared out the door, leaving Daniel to his thoughts.

Harry practically ran all the way to the boarding house where Kate was staying – he couldn’t wait to see her. Kate felt the same way and he found her waiting at the gate for him when he got there.  “Hi tiger,” she greeted him with a dazzling smile as a lopsided grin crossed his face and he replied, “Hi there yourself Katie. How was your day?”

“Boring ..and lonely. Now come here and kiss me will ya?” Kate laughed as Harry quipped, ”Hmm.. sounds like my day,” then he obliged her, the two of them rapidly becoming rather engrossed in each other. When they finally drew apart to take a breath, Harry happened to glance up and noticed the old woman who ran the boarding house standing at an upstairs window watching them with a disapproving look on her face. “Ah Katie.. looks like we’ve got an audience,” he informed her as he put a finger to his lips and nodded towards the window. Kate looked upwards as a slight frown crossed her face. “Oh that woman! She’s an interfering old busybody! I ran into her this morning and she wanted to know where I’d been last night,” she stated. “What did you tell her?” Harry asked. “I told her I’d spent the night at a friend’s place – which is true,” Kate said with a smile then added with a laugh, “And I also told her it was none of her business. She thinks you’re a lout you know.”

At that Harry grinned. “Well she should get to know me before arriving at such a, albeit correct, conclusion,” Harry laughed as did Kate. He then looked up at Mrs Smith and waved at her cheekily as Kate pulled his hand down, the two of them laughing their heads off. In response the old woman shook her head and shot them both a filthy look and as the two of them headed off down the street, Harry couldn’t help but slap Kate on the behind for Mrs Smith’s benefit, which set the two of them off laughing again, their arms wrapped around each other as they walked along.

Before too long they arrived at the pub to be greeted by their friends. As they sat down next to each other Harry put an arm around Kate and she rested a hand on his leg, and as they chatted and drank with their friends they exchanged meaningful glances and smiles every so often, their hands never leaving each other. This did not go unnoticed by their friends and when Kate excused herself after a while to go to the Ladies Room, her friends Trish and Liz followed her. “Okay Kate – what’s the go with you and Harry? You’ve been making goo goo eyes at each other all night and you can’t keep your hands off each other,” Trish demanded as Kate couldn’t help the grin that spread across her face.

“Well…” she started to reply as a mischievous gleam lit up her green eyes. “Well what?” Liz asked, her curiosity getting the better of her. “Okay, okay.. we did it,” Kate confessed as her grin got even wider and her friends looked at her with a mixture of shock and envy. “Kate O’Casey! Are you kidding me??!” Trish shrieked as did Liz. Kate shook her head, “No I’m not kidding you. We went all the way last night.. and this morning.. twice,” she added with a cheeky laugh as Trish and Liz both stared at her, gobsmacked. “No way!” Liz exclaimed as Kate laughed and replied, “Yes way!”

“So how was it? How was he?” Trish asked with a mischievous grin. At that a smile crossed Kate’s face, a dreamy look in her eyes. “It was amazing – he was amazing,” she confessed as the girls squealed excitedly again and hugged her. “So um.. did you.. you know?” Liz asked with a wink as a mischievous grin crossed Kate’s face and she replied, “Oh boy did I ever! Put it this way – I didn’t have to fake it,” as the three of them dissolved into giggles.

Trish then looked at Kate seriously and asked, “You did use protection didn’t you? You don’t want to end up pregnant you know.” Kate looked at her, somewhat taken aback, then replied a little defensively, “Of course we did – I’m not an eejit you know!”

“Okay, okay settle down – just making sure you didn’t get carried away in the heat of the moment and forget. We’ve seen how the two of you are together you know,” Trish stated as she gave her friend a knowing look to which Kate’s only reply was a grin as she knew she couldn’t deny it.

Meanwhile Harry was having a similar conversation with his mates. Freddy regarded him for a moment or two then said, ”What’s with you Harry? You haven’t wiped that goofy grin off your face all night.” In reply Harry shrugged non-commitally and took a sip of his beer. “What can I say mate? I’m just happy that’s all.”

“Yeah right,” one of his other mates Graham replied, not at all convinced. “You’ve hardly taken your eyes off Kate all night…or your hands,” he laughed as a mischievous twinkle lit up Harry’s blue eyes. At that, realisation suddenly hit Freddy as he exclaimed excitedly, “You bloody well shagged her didn’t you?!”. Harry looked at them as his lopsided grin got a bit wider and he replied, “My lips are sealed gentlemen,” but his grin told them everything they needed to know as they wolf whistled and whooped and clapped him on the back. All except for his mate Chalkie who had something of a crush on Kate and was therefore very jealous of Harry. “Lucky bastard,” he muttered under his breath as he stalked off to the bar.

“What’s got into him?’ Harry asked, a little perplexed. “Who cares?” Graham replied then added with a wink and a nudge, “C’mon Harry we want details mate – how was it hey?”. At that Harry shook his head and simply said, “It was such a personal experience we agreed to just keep it to ourselves,” as Freddy and Graham both groaned with disappointment.

With that Kate and the girls returned from the Ladies room, trying not to giggle as Kate sat back down next to Harry who raised an eyebrow at her, suspecting she’d been having a similar conversation with her friends as he’d been having with his. Kate just smiled at him as the other guys grinned at her in the same way as the girls were grinning at Harry, and she looked at Harry who smiled and shrugged at her. “C’mon let’s go dance,” she said to him with a grin so they could be alone for a little while. Harry didn’t need to be asked twice as she took him by the hand and led him onto the crowded dance floor.

He took her into his arms, their bodies pressed together as she linked her arms around his neck, their eyes holding each other’s captive. “Thank God I’ve got you to myself for a while,” Harry murmured as his lips brushed hers. “You can say that again,” Kate chuckled as she ran a hand through his hair as they kissed and moved sensuously against each other as they danced, not caring who was watching them. To both of them it felt like they were in their own little world and all that mattered was each other. When they finally drew their lips apart to catch a breath Kate rested her head on his shoulder, and kissed him on the neck which left him groaning. “Are you wearing aftershave Harry? You smell so good,” she whispered with a smile as he grinned at her. “Yeah I am  - do you like it?” he asked as she nodded and kissed him on the neck again. “I love it,” she confirmed as he made a mental note to wear it more often.

After they’d heated up the dancefloor for a few songs they decided to go and get some drinks. As they waited in line at the bar Harry leaned in to Kate and whispered, his voice husky, “I can’t wait to spend the night with you again Katie. I’m getting hard just thinking about it,” and as he pressed himself against Kate she realised he wasn’t kidding. “Don’t do that to me Harry,” she murmured back with a grin and a low, throaty chuckle as she leant back into him and he groaned in her ear under his breath, “What are you trying to do to me girl?”. At that Kate flashed him the ‘O’Casey grin’ and replied, “What you’re doing to me Harry.”

“How about after this drink we get out of here huh?” Harry suggested as he raised a questioning eyebrow at Kate who nodded with a grin, “Sounds good to me tiger.” Harry returned the grin as they finally got to the bar and ordered a Guinness each. They rejoined their friends and chatted and laughed with them for a while, Kate sitting on Harry’s lap,  but then their attraction to each other took over as Harry brushed a strand of Kate’s hair behind her ear as he began nibbling on it, then he worked his lips around to hers and they were soon engrossed in each other again. “Oh get a room already will you two!” Trish laughed as Harry replied with a lopsided grin, “Great idea Trish – we’re out of here,” pulling Kate off his lap and standing up. Kate grabbed her handbag as she grinned as well, as their friends started whistling and stirring them.  “Oh have fun you two – don’t do anything we wouldn’t do,” Liz giggled as Kate laughed, “No fear of that,” as Liz poked her tongue out at her. “Hey Kate – take it easy on him ok? He’s not as young as he used to be – he’s almost seventeen you know!” Freddy joked with a wink as Harry took a playful swipe at him. “Oh shut up you lot,” Harry laughed as he and Kate bade their friends farewell.

Once they got outside the pub Harry asked, more than a little hopefully, “So ah.. Katie where are we gonna go? I mean we could try and sneak into Daniel’s but it might be a bit awkward.” Kate shook her head vehemently as that suggestion. “No way Harry -not with Daniel there,” Kate replied as Harry ran a slightly frustrated hand through his hair. “We could go to my place I guess – but we’ll have to be quiet. If old Mrs Smith catches you in my room she’ll turf me out on my ear!” she said as Harry grinned at her, “Oh I can be quiet.”

At that Kate laughed, “Oh really? I think I heard this tiger roar more than once last night and this morning,” as she gave him a meaningful look and ran a finger down his chest. Harry caught her hand in his, his blue eyed gaze intense as he cocked an eyebrow at her. “Well that would be your fault now O’Casey wouldn’t it?” he laughed as did she. “And I wasn’t the only one who was rather.. vocal,” he quipped with a cheeky lopsided grin as she hit him. “Ooh you!” Kate exclaimed as she grinned and shook her head at him as they both cracked up laughing and he pulled her into his arms.

“God I love you Katie.. you are just so.. perfect,” Harry admitted with a smile as he kissed her tenderly and Kate felt her heart soar. “I love you too Harry. But I don’t know about me being perfect - but you on the other hand.” Kate replied as she kissed him back. Harry rested his forehead momentarily on Kate’s and whispered, “You’re perfect for me O’Casey,” as she ran a loving hand through his hair and replied with a smile, “The feeling’s mutual Harry.”

They eventually drew apart but still kept their arms around each other as they headed back to the boarding house. Once they got there Kate whispered, “I’ll just go check if the coast is clear,” as Harry nodded in agreement. She slowly entered the front door and inched her way towards Mrs Smith room and pressed her ear to the door. The old woman’s snoring was like music to Kate’s ears as a mischievous grin crossed her face, then she quietly crept back down the hall and opened the front door for Harry. He followed her quietly up the stairs to her room on the first floor, a grin on his face, rather enjoying the sneaking around and the thrill of possibly getting caught.

Once they got inside Kate’s room and she had locked the door they grabbed each other, their desire for each other which had been building all day and had been further intensified at the pub, finally being able to be unleashed. As Harry tugged her top off and said, “I’ve been waiting to do this all night Katie,”, Kate whispered between kisses ,”We’ve..*kiss* got to be*kiss* quiet*kiss* Harry.”

“Well stop talking then Katie,” Harry whispered back cheekily as he manoeuvred her towards the bed, the two of them shedding the rest of their clothes as he did so. They fell back on the bed together rather noisily, the two of them trying not to burst out laughing. “Harry shut up!” Kate shushed him with a laugh as he muttered an expletive while frantically looking through his discarded clothes for a condom. “I will now,” he replied with a grin as he ripped it open and put it on then covered her body with his. It didn’t take them long to go over the edge together, Kate covering Harry’s mouth with her hand to stifle his rather loud groan of satisfaction as she buried her head in his shoulder to stifle her own.  

Once they’d both got their breath back to normal they grinned at each other as Harry enveloped her in his strong arms, stretching his long , lean frame along the length of Kate’s bed as she snuggled into him, resting her head on his chest. “I want to go to sleep like this every night – wrapped in your arms Harry,” Kate confessed as she kissed him gently and he smiled at her. “Sounds good to me O’Casey,” he whispered back as they proceeded to do just that…

Early the next morning they were awoken by a loud knocking on Kate’s door. “Miss O’Casey! Are you there?” they heard Mrs Smith’s sharp voice as they both groaned. “Just pretend you’re not here Katie,” Harry murmured sleepily into her neck where his face was buried. “I wish I could Harry but knowing her she’ll just keep on knocking,” Kate whispered back with a rueful grin. “Come on you gotta get up and hide somewhere – if she catches you here I can say goodbye to this room,” she added as Harry pouted a little, just as Mrs Smith knocked persistently on the door again. “Come on Harry – you don’t want me to be homeless do you?” Kate tried to convince him when he showed no signs of moving.

“Okay, okay but where do you expect me to go?” he relented. “Hmm – under the bed maybe?” Kate suggested as he reluctantly got out of the bed and stuck his middle finger up at the door in response to her landlady’s annoying persistence. Kate tried to stifle a giggle as he crawled under the bed and she pushed his clothes in after him. “Alright, alright I’m coming,” she then called out to Mrs Smith as she quickly pulled some clothes on and prayed Harry could stay quiet.

“Yes can I help you Mrs Smith?” she demanded as she flung the door open. The old woman peered into the room suspiciously as Kate glared at her, “Looking for something in particular?’ she asked as Mrs Smith returned the look. “I thought I could hear voices,” she said accusingly as Kate thought quickly on her feet and replied, “I had the radio on.” Mrs Smith looked at her not quite convinced, but as she couldn’t see anyone she knew the young girl had the upper hand, much to her chagrin.

“So can I help you with something?” Kate repeated as she folded her arms across her chest and looked expectantly at the old woman, hoping to get rid of her quickly. “Well I.. I just wanted to remind you that your board is due tomorrow,” Mrs Smith stated in an annoyed tone, disappointed as she was to not find a young man in the girl’s room. At that Kate sighed and forced a smile onto her face, but it wasn’t reflected in her eyes. “When have I ever forgotten Mrs Smith?” she countered. “You’ll get it tomorrow as always. Now if you’ll excuse me I Have a busy day ahead that I need to get ready for.” With that Kate went to close the door, not before Mrs Smith cast her eyes one more time around the room. “Yes well just make sure you do. Good day to you them Miss O’Casey,” she said in an officious tone as she finally left. “Good day to you too Mrs Smith,” Kate retorted between gritted teeth as she closed the door firmly behind her, leaning against it and breathing a sigh of relief.

As she did so, Harry scrambled out from underneath the bed. “Bloody hell I thought she was never gonna leave!” he exclaimed in a hushed tone as Kate nodded and grinned. “Me too,” she admitted quietly then Harry said teasingly, “When was the last time you cleaned under your bed O’Casey? I almost sneezed with all the dust under there and that would have given the game away wouldn’t it?”. At that Kate playfully hit him and shook her head at him, “That’s it – out you go,” she joked as he grinned cheekily at her. “I s’pose I should get going though – in case she comes back. Although I’d much prefer to stay,’ Harry added as he quickly dressed then pulled her into his arms. “I’d much prefer that too,” Kate admitted as they shared a tender kiss then Kate looked at him quizzically,.

“How are you gonna get out without her noticing?” Harry grinned and nodded towards the window. “Harry! I’m on the first floor remember!” Kate reminded him but he just continued to grin. “Ah you know I love a challenge Katie,” he quipped with a devilish wiggle of his eyebrows, then stealing another kiss and saying,”Catch ya later Katie,”, he opened the window and hoisted himself out. “Harry! Be careful!” Kate exclaimed quietly as he expertly climbed down to the ground with a natural agility that brought a smile of admiration to Kate’s face as she watched him. He winked at her and flashed her a lopsided grin as she blew him a kiss and returned the grin, then he took off before anyone noticed him..


	6. Chapter 6

One night a couple of months later Kate was in her room at the boarding house where she’d been staying, trying to write a song. As she strummed a tune on her guitar and jotted down some lyrics she heard a noise on the window pane. Wondering what it was she looked out the window to see Harry standing below throwing pebbles at her window. “Harry?!” she called in surprise, keeping her voice low.

“Can I come up?” he whispered, a grin spreading across his face. Kate hesitated, but only for a moment – Mrs Smith , the old lady who ran the boarding house had already warned her about having ‘gentleman callers’ in her room after hours and had said if she caught her again with that ‘young larrikin’ in her room she’d turf her out on her ear, as “she ran a respectable establishment.” “Okay – but quietly huh?” she replied with a grin of her own as he scaled the wall.

As she helped him through the window she noticed the bruises on his face, as well as a gash above one of his eyebrows. “What on earth happened to you?” Kate asked him with concern.

“Oh it’s nothing,” he dismissed it. “You should have seen me Katie – I was brilliant!” he then said excitedly.

“What are you talking about Harry?’ she asked him, somewhat perplexed. He told her how he had overheard some guys talking about a jewellery heist they were planning and how he had decided to beat them to it. He’d managed to bypass the security system in the empty house and find the jewels, and was just coming out when the other guys had arrived. They hadn’t been very happy that he’d beat them to it and had decided to teach him a lesson. They’d just started laying into him when they’d heard the police sirens and they had beaten a hasty retreat as did he. But he, unlike them, did not get away empty handed. With a grin he pulled a small bag out of his pocket and opened it to reveal a few expensive looking items of jewellery. “Pretty good eh?” he quipped, feeling pretty pleased with himself.

He was somewhat puzzled by the worried frown on Kate’s face. “Pretty good? Are you kidding me Harry?? You get beaten up and almost nabbed by the cops and you think that’s pretty good? Sit down” she threw at him angrily as she grabbed a wash cloth and dabbed at the gash above his eyebrow none too gently as he sat down on her bed. “Oww – take it easy Kate!” he complained then immediately regretted doing so at the look she gave him. “Well I didn’t get nabbed did I?” he stated a little cockily.

“This time,” she retorted, her green eyes flashing at him. “You look horrible and you act like nothing happened. Just have a look at yourself in the mirror Harry. If you continue like this you might run out of luck one day – I don’t want to bury you Harry!’ she said in exasperation, as worried , angry tears sprang to her eyes.

“Oh c’mon Katie – don’t you think you’re being a bit dramatic? So I got beaten up a little? I can take care of myself,” he said a little defensively as she gave him a sceptical look.

“Oh really? When you’re outnumbered? You were lucky the coppers came when they did. I don’t know whether you’re just too damn cocky or stupid,” she shot at him in infuriation as he looked at her with a mixture of hurt and anger. 

“So you think I’m stupid? Oh well that’s just great,” he retorted, his blue eyes boring into her. 

“I didn’t mean it like that” she replied in exasperation. “I just meant that it was a foolish, reckless thing to do. Was a few baubles really worth the risk Harry?” Kate demanded as he looked at her.

“A few baubles? I’ll have you know I could get a pretty penny for these on the street Kate,” he replied angrily. “And what’s wrong with making a few quid eh? Forgive me if I want to be able to take my girl out to a nice restaurant and buy her nice things,” he argued.

He’d decided to try his luck with the heist for a couple of reasons – one to prove to Daniel that he was ready to graduate to ‘the big time’ and two, so he could make a decent amount of money to take Kate out somewhere nice or buy her something special. The least she could be was grateful, he thought a little angrily to himself, instead of going off at me.  

Kate looked at him and shook her head. “I don’t need all that Harry - I just need you, preferably in one piece,” she stated as she looked at him intently.

“Well what do you want me to do Kate?” he demanded heatedly. “This is all I know how to do!” he argued as Kate shook her head.

“So that’s it then? You’re just going to take the easy option then? Well that’s just grand,” she muttered in frustration.” You’re smart Harry, you’re good with your hands – there’s a lot of things you could do other than this! You have got other choices you know. You’re better than this Harry,” she argued back, challenging him.

Harry looked at her, thinking he was sick of arguing with her – he hadn’t gone there to fight with her anyway. Time to try another tack sport, he thought to himself, thinking about what she’d just said.  “Oh I’m good with my hands eh? Well you should know Katie,” he quipped with a cheeky grin as she pulled her into his arms and began caressing her. Unusually though, Kate was having none of it.

“Oh no you don’t – you don’t get to charm your way out of this one Harry,” she shook her head at him. “How can you be thinking of that at a time like this anyway?” Kate said furiously as she grabbed his wandering hands, angry that he wasn’t taking her seriously.

“C’mon Katie, I didn’t come here to argue. I don’t understand why you’re getting your knickers in a twist for anyway – I can think of so many better things to be doing with them, like getting them off,” he continued trying to bring her round as he wiggled his eyebrows devilishly at her then went to kiss her, but she shot him an angry look and held him off as a frustrated look crossed his face.

“Harry I’m serious,” she stated firmly as he looked at her with some shock – she’d never refused him before.

He realised then just how angry she was with him. “Fine then – have it your way,” he retorted with an angry pout. “Do you want me to go?’ he asked, looking like a naughty but chastised little boy.

“No,” she sighed as a hopeful smile spread across his face.

“Look I’m sorry I worried you,” he relented, knowing her anger was borne out of her concern for him. Having very few people who had genuinely cared for him in his life, Harry was often at a loss as to how to handle it when someone did. The depth & strength of Kate’s feelings for him touched him but it also scared him a little too. That scared, lonely little boy that still existed deep inside him wondered if he was really worthy of such love & devotion and if it could last - it had never lasted before.

“I just hate seeing you get hurt and I don’t want anything to happen you – I don’t want to lose you Harry,” Kate said sincerely, her eyes shining with her love for him.

“You’re not going to lose me - I’m not going anywhere,” he reassured her with a smile as he took her into his arms and kissed her tenderly.

“I’m still pissed at you, you know,” she murmured, but despite herself a half smile spread across her face.

“You know you’re beautiful when you’re angry,” he replied with a cheeky grin.

“Stop trying to sweet talk me Harry,” Kate stated as she gave him a meaningful look. “Is it working?” he asked more than a little hopefully.

“Maybe a little,” she conceded. “But if you ever do something as stupid and reckless like that again I swear I’ll kill you!” she warned him and by the look on her face he wasn’t entirely sure she was joking.

“Okay, okay,’ he laughed putting his hands up in mock surrender. As he laughed, he winced a little from the punches he’d copped to his ribs, which didn’t go unnoticed by Kate.

“Are you hurt even more?” she asked with both concern and a little residual anger.

“Nah I’m okay,” he replied hurriedly but Kate wasn’t convinced.

“Lose the shirt Harry,” she demanded in a no-nonsense fashion as he grinned cheekily at her.

“I thought you’d never ask Katie,” he quipped devilishly as she rolled her eyes at him and he tugged his t-shirt off.

“So I can check how bad you’re hurt,” she replied in an exasperated tone. A gasp escaped her lips as she saw the nasty bruises down his right side. “Good grief Harry you could have some broken ribs!” she exclaimed in alarm as she gingerly touched his bruised side.

“I’m fine – they’re not broken, just a bit bruised,” he reassured her in an effort to calm her down. “Oh really? Does this hurt?” she replied as she prodded him and despite trying not to he winced a bit. “Harry.. you should see a doctor,” she said worriedly.

“And how do you suggest I explain how I got hurt eh?” he replied as he gave her an expectant look.

“I’m fine – really Katie,” he added, “Nothing that a bit of TLC won’t fix,” as he grinned at her and covered her hand with his. Kate looked at him as a rueful smile crossed her face. 

“Do you really think you’re in any fit state for anything like that?”

He cocked an eyebrow at her as he whispered huskily in her ear, “Oh I’m sure you’ll be gentle with me.” 

She shook her head at his somewhat one track mind with a wry laugh. “And what if we get caught again?’ she murmured as his lips found hers.

“We’ll be quiet,” he replied with a grin, his blue eyes smouldering at her. “C’mon Katie you can’t toss me out in my current condition.”

He had her there and she knew it - she wanted to make sure he was alright and she had to admit, when he looked at her like that, she was helpless to resist him. “Okay ,okay,” she relented then added  a little cheekily, “We could just sleep I guess,” deliberately teasing him.

He looked like a disappointed little boy for a moment until he caught the mischievous gleam in her eyes. “Oh we’ll sleep Katie .. later,” he quipped as he pulled her back on the bed with him.

************************************************

 

The next night Harry & Kate caught up with their friends at the local pub. “Bloody hell Harry – what happened to you?” his mate Chalkie greeted him as he looked at the bruises and gash on his face. Harry grinned a little but as he stole a look at Kate who looked none too happy, he tried to hide the grin. “Ah it’s nothing Chalkie,” he replied with a wink that Kate didn’t see as she started talking to the girls.

“So c’mon Harry who gave you a hiding?” Freddy asked him on the quiet.  Harry started telling them the story. “Are you serious mate? That’s bloody brilliant!” Chalkie exclaimed as Harry grinned at him. “Yeah I guess I was,” he laughed with more than a hint of cockiness as Freddy slapped him on the back.

“Oh that deserves a drink – let me get you a pint Harry,” he added as he went to go the bar. “What are you drinking ladies?” he asked Kate and the other girls. “I’m just getting Harry a congratulatory pint.”

At that Kate’s eyes narrowed a bit. “What are you congratulating him for Freddy?” she asked as he looked a little puzzled. “Are you kidding me Kate? He pulled off that job last night all by himself and he didn’t get caught!” Freddy exclaimed excitedly as an angry look crossed Kate’s face.

“Oh yeah he’s a frigging bloody hero! Got himself practically beaten to a pulp and almost got nabbed by the coppers!” Kate replied angrily as she shot Harry a filthy look and the others all stopped and looked at the two of them. Harry looked momentarily embarrassed in front of his mates as Kate glared at him. “What? Have you been bragging about your ‘exploits’ to your mates Harry? Did you not listen to anything I said to you last night? Stop being such a bloody eejit!” she threw at him in frustration.

“Oh so I’m an eejit now am I? Well that’s just grand Katie,” Harry retorted furiously as he shook his head at her, not wanting to lose face in front of his mates.

“Yes you are when you’re behaving like this – you’re full of shite Harry,” Kate shot back at him, her green eyes flashing with anger.

“I’m full of shite?” Harry asked incredulously. “You’re the one talking shite O’Casey,” he snapped.

“Oh the micks are at it again,” Chalkie remarked drolly in reference to the Irish slang they were using, as both Harry & Kate glared at him and said in unison, “Shut it Chalkie!”

Harry then turned his heated blue eyed gaze on Kate, a frown furrowing his brow and said, “Oh give it a rest will you Katie – you sound like someone’s mother for God’s sake,” adding fuel to her fire. 

“Well if you grew up a bit maybe I wouldn’t have to Harry,” she snapped back as he gave her a filthy look. “Do you think this is a joke? This is your life you’re playing with Harry - I can’t stand by and watch you be so bloody reckless,” she stated, her voice rising with anger.

“Nobody’s asking you to,” he yelled at her, his blue eyes boring into her.

Kate looked like she’d been slapped, stunned by his outburst.  “Fine, if that’s the way you feel. I’ll let you look after yourself then Harry – seems that’s all you’re interested in anyway,” she replied coldly as she glared at him and swore at him in Gaelic. Harry’s Gaelic was a bit rusty as he hadn’t used it much since leaving Ireland some years before, but he still recognised what she said to him and he swore back at her in Gaelic as well. At that, hurt, angry tears sprung to Kate’s eyes as she grabbed her handbag and stormed out.

“Kate wait!” her friend Trish ran after her as she shot Harry a filthy look. She found Kate sitting outside the pub in the gutter crying her eyes out.

“Are you okay?” Trish asked sympathetically as she sat down next to her and a put a comforting arm around her. ”You know Harry’s a hot head. I’m sure he didn’t mean to say that.”

Kate roughly wiped away her tears. “Well if he’s sorry why isn’t he out here instead of you?’ she replied a little bitterly as she shook her head.

 “Oh you know fellas when they get together like that – always trying to outdo each other and sound like a big man. He’s just being stupid,” Trish tried to calm her down.

“I’ll say,” Kate replied as she looked down at the ground.

“I’m sure once he calms down he’ll be begging your forgiveness,” Trish said confidently, trying to cheer her up.

“Well he better because if he doesn’t he can go to hell,” Kate stated furiously.

“Come on Kate you don’t mean that,” Trish said gently, knowing her friend was very upset.

“Don’t I?” Kate retorted wryly as Trish looked at her a little shocked, wondering if she was serious. 

“C’mon Kate think about it – you’re not gonna find another looker like Harry too easily,” Trish said with a laugh, only half joking, trying to change her mind.

At this a rueful half smile crossed Kate’s face. “I need more than just looks Trish.”

Trish looked at her and said softly, “Boy you really love him, don’t you?”

 Kate nodded, trying to blink back her tears as she replied, “Pity he doesn’t feel the same way. Look thanks Trish I appreciate you coming after me but I’m gonna get going I think.”

“Do you want me to come with you?’ Trish offered. Kate shook her head.

“No it’s okay – I think I’d prefer to be on my own.” Trish gave her a hug then said “You take care okay?” as Kate nodded then went to hail a cab.

                                                                *******************************

Meanwhile inside the pub Harry was busy drowning his sorrows.  Trish walked back in and strode up to Harry. “What are you doing in here drowning your sorrows for Harry? You should be out there apologising to your girl,” she threw at him.

He downed his pint of Guinness and glared at her. “In case you didn’t hear Trish, she made it very clear she’s not my girl anymore,” he replied, his jaw clenched in anger. “And you can save your breath – I’ve already had enough lecturing tonight thanks.”

Trish shook her head at him. “You’re an idiot Harry if you’re just going to let her walk out of your life! Can’t you see that she loves you?” she demanded.

A bitter smile crossed Harry’s face. “She’s got a funny way of showing it,” he retorted as he stalked off to the bar to get another drink.

While he was at the bar Chalkie sidled up next to him. “Ah Harry don’t worry about it - you’re well rid of her. Who do these birds think they are anyway? Trying to tell us blokes what to do,” he stated as Harry neither agreed or disagreed but just drank his beer, lost in his troubled thoughts. “I mean she might be a great lay but geez you don’t need that sort of nagging,” Chalkie added as Harry’s head suddenly snapped up, his eyes blazing blue fire. “What did you just say?” he asked, his voice menacing.

Chalkie looked a bit puzzled at Harry’s reaction. “Harry I didn’t mean nuffin.. I just meant..” he tried to explain a bit nervously.

“Just meant what Chalkie?” Harry interjected as he grabbed him by the collar. “I don’t appreciate you talking about Kate like that. And how do you know whether she’s a great lay or not?” he demanded as Chalkie looked at him fearfully.

“Harry easy mate.. I um don’t know, trust me. I just assumed I guess..I mean I haven’t heard you complaining,” Chalkie spluttered as Harry’s eyes narrowed.

“What are you saying Chalkie? Do you fancy Kate or something?” he yelled at him as he drew his fist back.

Just then Freddy spied the two of them from across the pub. “Bloody hell!” he exclaimed as he saw Harry about to punch Chalkie. He bounded across the crowded pub and jumped in between them. “Whoa Harry – what the hell are you doing?” Freddy demanded as Chalkie breathed a sigh of relief.

“This little weasel’s got his eye on Kate! What - do you think she’s fair game now Chalkie??” Harry stated angrily as he tried to get to him through Freddy who was having a hard time restraining him. Harry could be a wild man sometimes and an angry Harry with a fair bit of alcohol in him could be a dangerous combination.

“Is that true Chalkie?” Freddy demanded, having noticed the way Chalkie looked at Kate sometimes when Harry wasn’t looking. Knowing better than to admit it, Chalkie lied through his teeth to save his skin. “No of course not. I swear Harry,” he replied, trying to convince him.

At that Harry shrugged Freddy’s restraining hands off him. “Alright, alright – sorry Chalkie,” he muttered a bit apologetically as he swayed a little on his feet.

“C’mon Harry how about we get you out of here” Freddy suggested as he caught him before he fell and steered him towards the door. 

When he managed to get him outside Harry put his hands up. “I’m okay Freddy – just need to have  a little sit down,” he stated, trying not to slur his words as he sat down on the gutter just as Kate had done earlier.

“Yeah sure you’re okay mate,” Freddy laughed as he sat down next to him. Harry laughed as he shook his head, a drunken half grin on his face.

“Why wouldn’t I be okay Freddy? I’ve just lost my girl but hey you know what maybe Chalkie’s right – maybe I am well rid of her,” he stated in a drunken voice as Freddy shook his head at him.

“You don’t mean that Harry and you know it,” he stated matter-of-factly.

“No I do,” Harry replied, trying to convince himself as well as Freddy.

“Well if you really think that then I’m afraid I’ll have to agree with Trish – you are a bloody idiot Harry!” Freddy rebuked him, not mincing his words. Harry looked at him a bit taken aback. “Harry we’ve been mates for a long time and I’ve seen you do some pretty stupid things sometimes but none as stupid as letting that girl go – you two had a good thing going and you’re going to throw it away just like that?” Freddy went on.

Harry was silent, knowing deep down he was right.  “I thought you were smarter than that mate. Girls like that don’t come along every day you know. You were pretty harsh to her Harry – don’t you think you should apologise?”

At that Harry sighed and ran a hand over his face. “I’ve really stuffed things up haven’t I? I just don’t understand why she got so upset about me pulling that job,” he replied, his gaze on the ground.

At that a rueful smile crossed Freddy’s face, “Because she cares about you, you dumb mick!” Freddy laughed as Harry pretended to look annoyed.

“Who you calling a dumb mick?” he replied.

“What, are you gonna try and take me on too? I’m a bit bigger than Chalkie you know,” Freddy reminded him with a grin. “C’mon let’s get your sorry arse home so you can sleep it off,” he added as he hauled Harry up and steered him down the street towards the Tube Station.

                                **********************************

Freddy managed to get a drunken Harry to Daniel’s with a bit of effort. “Harry will you shut your mouth – you’ll wake the whole bloody neighbourhood!” Freddy pleaded with him as Harry staggered along singing “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling” at the top of his voice.

_When Irish Eyes are smiling_

_Sure’ tis like the morn in spring_

_In the lilt of Irish laughter_

_You can hear the angels sing_

 “Oh those Irish eyes of hers - she’s got the greenest eyes I’ve ever seen,” he muttered away to himself as Freddy tried not to laugh at him. “Oh and her voice – she’s got the sweetest voice I’ve ever heard. When she sings she sounds like an angel,” he went on with a silly drunken grin on his face. “Oh but she can be a little devil too my Katie. Oh my you wouldn’t believe me if I told you what she does sometimes Freddy..,” he went on with a mischievous wiggle of his eyebrows.

 “Trust me mate I don’t want to know – that’s between you & Kate,” Freddy laughed.

 At that Harry stopped walking. “Was Freddy – past tense mate. See I am learning something Daniel’s been teaching me,” Harry laughed ruefully. “She’s left me Freddy – just like that. One little fight and she walks,” he went on shaking his head. “Just like everyone else in my life – they all leave sooner or later,” he added bitterly as Freddy looked at him and shook his head.

 “Mate – that was hardly a little fight the two of you had. I think you need to pull your head in and stop feeling sorry for yourself and go and talk to her. When you sober up a bit that is,” Freddy stated firmly, starting to lose a bit of patience with him. Harry went to argue with him but Freddy just pushed him towards Daniel’s door.

 Daniel had been enjoying a quiet night at home and had just been thinking about Harry when he heard the knock on his door. Since his protégé had taken up with that young girl he’d been lucky to see him. And Daniel worried about Harry when he wasn’t with him, knowing his propensity for getting himself into trouble as well as his quick temper.

 He got up to answer the door and was surprised to find a rather inebriated Harry standing there being propped up by one of his friends who had an apologetic look on his face. “Sorry Mr Chalmers – Harry’s had a few too many and I didn’t know where else to bring him,” Freddy stated as Daniel nodded and opened the door.

 “So I see,” he stated as Harry stumbled a bit as he came inside.

 “Hello Daniel – oops, got weak ankles you know,” he said with a drunken chuckle as Daniel & Freddy caught him.

 “How about you sit down my boy before you fall down,” Daniel chided him gently, as he tried to hide a grin at the sorry state the boy was in. “He’s been fighting has he by the look of him?” Daniel asked as he spied the bruises and gash on Harry’s face.

 “Not tonight – that happened last night but I’ll let him tell you about that. He did almost pick a fight tonight with a mate of ours though so I thought I’d better get him out of there,” Freddy explained.

 At that Harry looked at the two of them, an angry look on his face. “And he deserved it too the little bugger – the way he was talking about my girl,” he said heatedly and then his look of anger turned to one of sadness. “Except she’s not my girl anymore is she?” he added as Daniel gave Freddy a questioning look.

 “Ah.. he and Kate had a big fight tonight and she stormed out of the pub. He’s been drowning his sorrows,” Freddy explained.

 ”Oh I see,” Daniel replied, secretly happy that that had happened and she would no longer be a distraction for Harry. ”Well thank you for bringing him home to me, Freddy isn’t it?” Daniel said with a smile as Freddy nodded and then went to leave. “Take it easy Harry – and think about what I said hey?” he said to him as he left. Harry waved half-heartedly at him then sunk down on the lounge chair, his head in his hands.

 “So Harry my boy would you like to tell me what happened? Starting with how you got those bruises etc on your face?” Daniel asked him.

 Harry smiled ruefully at his mentor as he told him with a great deal of pride how he’d pulled off the jewellery heist but then how it had all gone a bit sour at the end. “You should have seen me Daniel – I was bloody brilliant if I do say so myself. And I got away with it,” he said, the look on his face reminding Daniel of an excited little boy, as he nodded.

 “That you did Harry,” Daniel conceded, feeling a degree of pride as well as amazement at his sheer cockiness. Talented though the boy no doubt was, he also felt that his overconfidence could get him into trouble one day. He had been lucky not to get caught. “This time,” he added as he gave the young man a knowing look.

 At that Harry’s expression darkened. “Oh don’t you start Daniel – I’ve had enough lecturing from Kate thanks. What is it with girls anyway? I can look after myself – I don’t need her or anyone else looking after me,” he stated angrily as Daniel suddenly understood what they must have fought about.

 As much as Daniel hated to admit it he suspected Kate had a point. Still, Harry’s anger at her worked in his favour, so he wasn’t about to tell Harry he thought she had a point. As Daniel looked at him he saw a flash of that angry young boy he had found a few years before – fiercely independent and determined not to need anyone. It had taken Daniel a great deal of time & patience to win his trust and get him to rely on him a bit, if only for a hot meal and a roof over his head when he needed it. Obviously this young Kate girl had had enough of trying to do the same.

 “Well if I had all the answers to figuring women out my boy I’d be a rich man,” Daniel laughed with a twinkle in his eye.

 Harry shook his head with a drunken, rueful laugh of his own. “I thought she’d be happy – I wanted to show her what I could do and all she does is go off at me. ‘You’re better than this Harry’, ‘I don’t want to bury you Harry’ and all ridiculous stuff like that. And then she tells me to grow up and that I’m only interested in myself,” he stated bitterly, remembering her words that had wounded him so.

 Daniel could tell he was starting to work himself up again so he said gently “Well no use worrying about her now Harry. There’s plenty of other fish in the sea. So how about you go and sleep it off hey?”

 Harry was in no mood for sleeping though. “Are you insinuating I’m drunk Daniel? Can’t a guy have a few drinks without everyone making a big deal about it? You’re not my father Daniel you know – you can’t tell me what to do,” Harry shot at him, his anger not really directed at Daniel but he was unfortunately in the firing line.

 An odd expression momentarily crossed Daniel’s face as Harry said that before he forced a neutral expression onto his face. “I know I can’t tell you what to do Harry, but I have imbibed a bit too much myself on occasion in my youth so I know from experience you’ll be suffering even more tomorrow if you don’t get some sleep. C’mon off to bed with you now,” he said firmly as he went to help Harry up out of the chair.

 ”I’m okay Daniel – I haven’t forgotten how to walk,” Harry stated indignantly as he waved him off and got to his feet rather wobbily. “Oh man .. why is the room spinning?” he said as Daniel smiled and grabbed him.

 “Come on,” he said as he helped him into the bedroom where Harry immediately flopped face down on the bed and was out cold within a minute. Daniel grabbed a blanket and placed it over the young man as he watched him sleeping for a moment. “Oh Harry my boy,” he sighed with a rueful shake of his head as he left him sleeping, quietly closing the door behind him.

 *********************************************************************

 Kate meanwhile had gone back to her room in the boarding house. She stormed into her room, slamming the door shut behind her. “Stupid, ungrateful, reckless eejit,” she muttered under her breath in reference to Harry, still fuming over their fight and his behaviour. And then she sunk down on her bed where they had made love only the night before, where he had held her in his arms and kissed her and told her she had nothing to worry about.

 A thought then entered her head - was that all he was interested in? Was she just convenient for him? He certainly seemed to have a bit of a one-track mind when they were together but she had to admit more often than not so did she. Although for Kate their relationship was so much more than that – she had only gone all the way with Harry because she loved him and she thought he had loved her too. Hadn’t he said that to her their first time? She’d thought Harry was different to other guys, that he actually felt something for her, that it was more than just physical, but had she been wrong? she found herself wondering.

 And then she also remembered how she had fallen asleep feeling safe & secure in his arms the night before – the only place in her young life that she had ever felt safe & secure. And now what? she thought sadly to herself as the tears she had tried to fight back started to flow until she couldn’t cry anymore. Sleep eluded her as she tossed & turned & finally she got up and started writing a song – pouring her overflowing emotions into her music, where she always found solace.

 


	7. Chapter 7

The next day Harry woke up with a horrible hangover – his mouth dry and his head pounding. He staggered out of the bedroom to the kitchen to find Daniel there reading the newspaper. “Morning Harry – well actually it’s closer to afternoon,” he greeted him with a grin as Harry shot him a withering look. “There’s some tea in the pot if you want it – or you might be needing something stronger like a coffee,” he added as Harry nodded and poured himself a very strong cup of coffee then slumped down in a chair, looking very much worse for wear.

 He spent the rest of the day moping around feeling sorry for himself. He tried to convince himself at first that he was in the right and that Kate would be round any minute now to apologise but as day turned into night with no sign of her he started to realise that it didn’t look like that was going to happen. He also realised that he missed her – he missed her smile, he missed her laugh, her sparkling green eyes, the way she kissed him. He missed the feel of her under his hands and the way her hands felt on him. But most of all he missed the way she cared about him, the way she loved him. Maybe Freddy was right, he thought to himself as he lay in bed alone that night. Somehow it didn’t even feel right going to sleep without her in his arms. But then he worried – was it too late? Even if he apologised would she want him back or had he hurt her so much she was done with him? As he lay there awake he decided he had to at least try...

 The next morning he went over to the boarding house where Kate was staying. As he came in the front door and went to go up the stairs to her room, the old lady who ran the place spied him. “And just where do you think you’re going young man?’ she demanded, knowing full well who he was.

“Oh I’m just popping up to see Miss O’Casey – it’s not after hours so I gather that’s not a problem?’ he replied cheekily as she glared at him somewhat.

“Well she’s not there,” she informed him as he started to get a little worried.

“Well where is she then?” he asked.

“How should I know? All I know is I saw her walking out with her guitar case about an hour ago,” she replied then she added as she gave him a pointed look, “And she’s cried herself to sleep the past 2 nights, I heard her when I was going up to my own room. I gather that’s because of you is it? I warned her you were nothing but trouble.”

At that Harry looked at her guiltily, feeling sick to his stomach that he’d hurt Kate that much. “Thanks for your time,” he muttered as he turned and walked out, wondering where she might have gone.

 On a whim he walked by the Tube Station where he had first met her and as on that day he heard her before he saw her. A smile crossed his face as he rounded the corner and he saw a crowd of people around her as she busked - her popularity was growing he realised. He was glad in a way that there was a crowd as he blended into them as he didn’t know how happy she was going to be to see him. As he hung back he watched her – she smiled gratefully as someone dropped some money into her guitar case but he noticed her smile didn’t reach her eyes which broke his heart.  As she finished the song she was singing the crowd starting to disperse a little bit and then she looked up and saw him.

 The look she gave him confirmed his fears – she did not seem at all happy to see him. “What are you doing here Harry?” she asked with an exasperated sigh.

“I ..ah wanted to see you Kate,” he replied a little nervously.

“Well you’ve seen me so now you can go,” she retorted a little sarcastically as she avoided his gaze.

“Katie..” he went to say but she cut him off with a cold, hard stare.

“I’m working here Harry,” she stated as he ran a hand through his hair in frustration – she could be so bloody stubborn sometimes.

“Katie..please, can we go somewhere and talk?” he pleaded with her as he put a hand on her waist, moving closer to her.

She looked at him for a moment and try as she might she knew she couldn’t refuse him when he looked at her like that. “Okay,” she relented as she packed her guitar away and slung it over her shoulder.

“There’s a park not far from here – how about we go there?’ he suggested as she nodded silently. She was still so angry and hurt she didn’t know what to say to him.

 As they walked along he stole a glance at her. ”I missed you you know,’ he confessed.

She shook her head ruefully. “Oh yeah I know what you missed Harry,” she replied a little cynically as she gave him a meaningful look.

As he realised what she was getting at a little smile crossed his face. ”Well yes ok I missed that,” he admitted then went on “but not just that – I missed you Katie, all of you,” his blue eyes shining at her.

Kate looked at him, touched by his honesty. “How about we go and sit down over there?” he nodded towards a bench in the park they had just reached. She nodded as she followed him and they both sat down. They were both silent for a moment or two, neither really knowing what to say.

Harry decided to bite the bullet, knowing he had to make this right between them. "So..” he started as he looked at her intently.

“So..” she echoed, looking at him expectantly.

 He knew what she was expecting – it was not a word he was used to saying but he knew he had to say it if he had any chance of getting her back. “You’re gonna make me work for this aren’t you O’Casey?” he laughed a little wryly as despite herself a little grin crossed her face.

“Damn right I am Harry,” she replied as he shook his head ruefully. He looked down at the ground then his intense blue eyed gaze turned to her.

“I’m sorry Katie,” he apologised sincerely. “I’m sorry I hurt you. I shouldn’t have gone off at you the way I did. I don’t know what got into me. I know you were worried about me. I want to make this right between us - I don’t want to lose you Katie,” he whispered as he lovingly brushed away a tear that had slipped down her cheek. S

he covered his hand with hers. “I don’t want to lose you either Harry,” she confessed, her voice strained with emotion. “It just kills me to see you in pain and the thought of you getting hurt or being sent to jail or whatever scares the hell out of me,” she stated honestly. “And it kills me that you don’t see in yourself what I see in you Harry,” she added as she looked at him intently, her green eyes shining with her love for him.

 “And what do you see?” he asked a little dubiously.

At that Kate curled her fingers around his. “I see a young man who’s smart and funny, who’s a talented artist – what about that portrait you drew of me huh? – that was amazing,” she said with a warm smile, then she went on. “I see a guy who could have a lot more choices than he gives himself credit for. I see someone who has a heart of gold. I see someone who drives me crazy sometimes but who I’m crazy about,” she said with a grin as he grinned back at her.

He was a bit blown away by what she was saying to him. Then she paused and looked directly at him “And I know you’ve stolen a few things in your time Harry but the only thing that matters to me is that you stole my heart,” she said sincerely as he looked at her, his lopsided grin getting wider. “And I’m sorry for what I said to you the other night too,” she added. He shook his head.

“You didn’t say anything I didn’t deserve,” he admitted a little ruefully.

“True,” she stated with a cheeky grin as he cocked an eyebrow at her and chuckled, then brought his lips to hers and kissed her tenderly, conveying with his actions what he found so hard to put into words. When they finally drew apart he murmured “I can’t wait to lay next to you and hold you in my arms again,” as Kate smiled, thinking she knew what he was getting at.

Later that night, they went back to Daniel’s as he had told Harry he would be out of town ‘on business’ for a couple of days. Harry lay down on the bed in his room and motioned for Kate to lay down next to him. As she did so, the two of them snuggled together in the single bed, he enveloped her in his strong, lean arms. Kate went to kiss him on his neck but he turned slightly so she couldn’t reach it. In reply to her puzzled look he said “Tonight I just want to hold you Katie -  so you know that’s not all I’m here for. I just want to sleep with you – like actually sleep,” he said with a grin as Kate smiled back at him, touched by his thoughtfulness.

She relaxed in his arms as he pulled her back against him, stroking her hair. He then planted a tender kiss on the back of her head and whispered “Glad to have you back here where you belong O’Casey”.

She covered his hands with hers and replied “Glad to be here,” as the two of them fell into a contented sleep, both happy & relieved to be back together.

The next morning Kate awoke still wrapped in Harry’s arms. A smile crossed her face as she felt his arousal pressing insistently against her – he always was an ‘early riser’ she thought cheekily as she decided to reward him for his tender thoughtfulness the night before. Plus, she knew as well as Harry did, the attraction between them was too strong for them to deny for too long. With that thought in mind she rolled over to face him – she watched him for a moment as he smiled in his sleep, looking just like an innocent little boy she thought, with a lock of black hair falling over his face. Then as her hand found its target his smile got a bit broader. She continued to arouse him as she kissed him softly and a moan escaped his lips. He was having the most amazing dream – it felt so real, and as he slowly awoke he realised it wasn’t a dream at all.

“Katie..?,” he murmured drowsily. “What are you doing?’ he asked.

“What do you think I’m doing Harry?’ she whispered with a cheeky laugh as she closed her hand more firmly around him and his eyes shot wide open, suddenly very much awake. She giggled at the look on his face as a grin crossed her face.

“Hmm let me see – is it something like this?” he murmured as his hand found its own target and paid her back in kind. With that she kissed him and murmured “I hate fighting with you Harry but I must admit I do enjoy making up.”

“You took the words right out of my mouth O’Casey,” he quipped with a mischievous wiggle of his eyebrows.

“Oh I wonder how I did that?” Kate laughed as he pulled her closer to him.

“Oh I think like this,” he replied with a laugh of his own as he kissed her very, very thoroughly and they were soon lost in each other once again….


	8. Chapter 8

“So what are you doing for Christmas Katie?” Harry asked Kate as they walked along hand in hand.

“I don’t know,” Kate confessed. “I haven’t really given it much thought to tell you the truth. Having no family I guess it’s never really been a big thing for me – you know how it is,” she added a little ruefully as Harry nodded. Before he’d met Daniel he couldn’t even remember celebrating Christmas, well not properly anyway.

“Well why don’t you come over to Daniel’s and have Christmas lunch with us? It’s nothing fancy mind you but it beats spending it on your own,’ he stated with a grin.

Kate looked a bit hesitant as she & Daniel didn’t exactly see eye to eye most of the time. “Thanks for the offer Harry but I don’t know.. Christmas is supposed to be about peace & love and I don’t think there’s much love lost between me & Daniel and it might not be exactly peaceful either,” she stated a little wryly. 

“Oh c’mon it’s Christmas - surely the two of you can put aside your differences for the day eh? C’mon Katie.. I want to spend Christmas with you,” he pleaded with her as he put on his best ‘little boy face’ which he knew she couldn’t resist.

“Okay, okay I’ll come,” Kate relented with a smile. “As long as Daniel’s okay with me being there,” she added a little skeptically.

“He’ll be fine, don’t worry,” Harry reassured her. “So.. what are you getting me for my Christmas present?” he asked with a cheeky lopsided grin as he took her into his arms.

“I don’t know – what do you want?” Kate asked with a grin of her own as she had a pretty good idea. 

“You – gift wrapped,” he replied with a chuckle, his blue eyes full of mischief as she playfully hit him. “So I can enjoy unwrapping you,” he whispered huskily in her ear as he started nibbling on it.

“Well what do I get then?” Kate laughed as his lips found hers.

“Whatever you want,” he murmured between kisses as he cocked an eyebrow at her.

“Are you going to tie a bow around it for me?” she quipped mischievously as Harry laughed at her cheekiness. “My aren’t you a cheeky devil O’Casey,” he remarked with a grin.

“Takes one to know one Harry,” Kate replied as she gave him a meaningful look.

As Kate had suspected, Daniel was less than happy with the idea of her spending Christmas with Harry & himself when Harry broached the subject with him. “Harry my boy, I thought we had a Christmas tradition – it’s just the two of us,” Daniel stated.

“I know Daniel, but she hasn’t got anywhere else to go. She is my girlfriend after all,” Harry pointed out.

At that Daniel sighed – he was starting to become a bit concerned about the hold this O’Casey girl had on his young protégé. Harry certainly seemed infatuated with her and that presented a great potential for distraction which he didn’t need, Daniel thought to himself. But then a somewhat surprising sentimentality hit him – perhaps it was the pleading look on Harry’s face which made him look like a young boy, rather than the young man he was fast becoming, and he knew he couldn’t deny him – not at Christmas time. God knows the lad had had scant few happy Christmases in his life, he realised. And at this time of year, a person would have to have a harder heart then Daniel possessed than to turn someone away from his door who had no one else to spend Christmas with. “Alright, alright”, Daniel conceded with a smile and was rewarded with a boyish grin from Harry.

Christmas Day rolled around quickly. Daniel couldn’t help but chuckle as Harry went around the flat doing a last minute clean up, wanting everything to be perfect.

“Hmm I must remember to invite Kate round for lunch more often if it makes you clean up Harry,” he remarked drolly as Harry shot him a fake dirty look.

“Very funny Daniel,” he retorted. Not long after there was a knock at the door. ”I’ll get it!” Harry exclaimed as he bounded to the door, “Hi Katie, Merry Christmas,” he greeted her with a lopsided grin and a twinkle in his blue eyes.

“Merry Christmas Harry,” she replied with a matching twinkle in her green eyes and a smile lighting up her face as he kissed her.

As Daniel entered the room from the kitchen he coughed conspicuously to get their attention as they were fairly engrossed in each other. They drew apart, a little embarrassed. “Merry Christmas Kate - & welcome to our small but sweet celebration,” Daniel said graciously as he smiled at her, putting her at ease as she wasn’t sure how he would feel about her being there, given some of their previous interactions.

“Merry Christmas Daniel,” she replied with a grateful smile. She then handed him a gift wrapped bottle of wine. “Ah .. this is for you,” she said as Daniel looked a little surprised and thanked her. “And this is for you Harry,” she said as she smiled at him and handed him a brightly wrapped gift.  Looking just like a little boy, Harry hurriedly tore the wrapping paper off to reveal a sketch pad and a set of drawing pencils.

“Do you like it? I thought you might like to do some more drawings ‘cause you’re really good at it you know,” Kate said with a smile as a wide grin crossed his face. “Are you kidding me? I love it!” Harry replied as he planted a thank you kiss on her lips.

 “Hang on – I’ve got something for you too,” he stated as he grabbed a present from under the Christmas tree. “It’s only something little,” he said almost apologetically as he gave it to her.

”Harry – I don’t care if it’s big or little. You didn’t have to get me anything,” Kate reassured him with a smile as she took the gift and started unwrapping it, to reveal a snow globe with a leprechaun in it and a mix tape of their favourite songs that he’d made for her.

“I thought the leprechaun would remind you of me – you know a wee Irish lad,” he quipped with a cheeky grin and a twinkle in his blue eyes, laying his Irish brogue on thick as Kate laughed. “Oh Harry thank you – I love it. And the tape – I love all these songs! This must have taken you hours to make,” she remarked appreciatively as she flung her arms around his neck and hugged him, their lips finding each other’s again.

As Daniel observed them, he couldn’t help but smile a little.  She obviously made Harry happy he thought to himself, which in itself wasn’t a bad thing he thought – so long as she didn’t become too much of a distraction for him. They also reminded him a bit of himself and a certain young lady he had known in his own youth. He hadn’t been much older than Harry he reminisced as a wistful expression crossed his face. Oh he had loved that girl he remembered as he looked at the young couple in front of him. But then other memories & regrets entered his head as he remembered the complications that emotional attachments could cause, the unplanned twists & turns of fate that could change your life and the lives of those around you forever.  Putting those memories back where they belonged, he turned to Harry & Kate and said “I’ll just go see how the turkey’s going”, although he doubted they even heard him as they were too busy chatting & laughing together as he disappeared into the kitchen.

When he came back out a little later they were sitting together on the lounge kissing again. A rueful smile crossed Daniel’s face. “I’d hate to see you two if we had any mistletoe about,” he quipped drolly as they sprang apart, Kate looking momentarily embarrassed and a cheeky lopsided grin crossing Harry’s face. “If you can drag yourselves apart for a few minutes lunch is ready,” he added with a knowing look as they joined him at the table, sharing a little smile between them.

After they had finished eating and cleared the table, Daniel turned to Harry & Kate and said with a smile, “Well you two I’ll leave you to your own devices then shall I?” as he went to grab his coat.

“Where are you going Daniel?” Harry asked, a little surprised.

“Oh Harry my boy when I gave you that watch this morning I said I was giving you the gift of time and I meant it – in more ways than one,” Daniel replied as he gave them a meaningful look with a twinkle in his eye. “And besides, you’re not the only one to want to celebrate Christmas in the company of a member of the fairer sex – I have a lady friend I promised to pop round and see,” he added as he cocked an eyebrow in a devilish manner very similar to the way Harry did  Kate noticed. “Have fun,” he said with a grin as he wished them farewell then disappeared out the door.

After Daniel left Harry made himself & Kate some Irish coffee then he sat down next to her on the lounge, with the fire crackling in the fireplace and fairy lights twinkling on the Christmas tree, carols playing on the radio. As Kate sipped hers some cream ended up on the top of her lip. At that a smile crossed Harry’s face. “You’ve got a bit of cream on your lip,” he laughed as she went to lick it off but he added with a grin, “Allow me,” as he kissed her and she giggled a little.

With that Kate scooped a bit of cream off the top of her cup and playfully smeared it on Harry’s cheek “Oh you’ve got a bit of cream there – allow me,” she echoed his words with a cheeky grin as she licked it off. “Hmm..yummy,” she whispered as she worked her lips down to his. They kissed for a while, tender, soft kisses at first that eventually gave way to deeper, more demanding ones.

“So do I get to unwrap my present now?” Harry murmured, his blue eyes smouldering at Kate as she ran a hand through his hair.

“As long as I get to unwrap mine,” she replied giving him a meaningful look. With a devilish wiggle of his eyebrows, Harry lay back on the lounge, his arms behind his head. “Feel free to unwrap away,” he quipped as she laughed at his boldness.

“Cheeky bugger aren’t you? Hmm where shall I start?” she mused, her green eyes twinkling with mischief.  “A shoe perhaps?” she teased him with a grin.

“You can start a bit higher up than that,” he quipped with a cheeky grin of his own as he grabbed her hand and guided it to where he wanted her to be as Kate laughed.

“Direct aren’t you?” as he nodded. “So Harry.. have you been a good boy or a naughty boy this year?” Kate breathed in his ear as she rested her hand against him.

“You tell me,” he replied with a grin, his hands starting their own exploring, as he started undoing her blouse.

“Hmmm.. I think you’ve been a very naughty boy but you’re very good at it,” Kate replied with a cheeky grin as her other hand moved down to his belt buckle and a ragged breath escaped his lips.

“So do I get my present then?” he laughed as he pulled her on top of him.

“What do you think?” she laughed as she kissed him in a way that left very little to the imagination.

“I take it that’s a yes,” he murmured as he cocked an eyebrow at her.

“Well if you didn’t get the message by that, I must be doing something wrong,” Kate stated with a raised eyebrow of her own.

The lopsided grin that she loved crossed his face as he shook his head. “Oh you’re not doing anything wrong Katie – you do everything right,” he breathed as he tenderly cupped her cheek and kissed her again, his tongue delving into her mouth. “I want you Katie,” he groaned as he pressed himself against her.

“I kind of noticed that,” she quipped cheekily. “Shall we?” she nodded her head towards his bedroom.

He shook his head which surprised her a little. “No.. let’s stay here,” he whispered, his eyes holding hers intently as he brushed a stray hair from her face.

“I guess it is kind of romantic with the fire and everything,” Kate agreed with a smile.

“Exactly..plus I don’t want to let you go.. not yet,” Harry replied between kisses as he started tugging her skirt off. She followed his lead and unzipped his jeans as he kicked off his shoes & socks then his jeans followed, not before he grabbed a little foil packet out of one of the pockets. She unbuttoned his shirt and quickly pulled it off as he made short work of her blouse & bra until she was lying as naked on top of him as he was under her.

Kate went to straddle him but he stopped her. “No.. wait,” he murmured as she looked at him a little quizzically. “Ladies first,” he quipped with a grin, “I am learning to be a gentleman after all,” he added with a twinkle in his blue eyes.

“Well if you’re sure you can wait,” Kate replied with a smile then stopped talking as he flipped them over so that she was underneath him and he began caressing her intimately. “I can wait,” he murmured in her ear as he nibbled on it and then trailed his kisses down her neck, finding that sensitive spot that he knew she loved when he kissed it, all the while his long, slender fingers working their magic on her. Kate closed her eyes as she gave into the way he made her feel, the way he instinctively knew how to drive her crazy. Harry was like a drug to her and no matter how much she had of him she always craved more. She knew she had more than willingly given him not only her body, but her heart and soul as well.

As Harry’s mouth found one of her breasts his name escaped Kate’s lips as a moan. She knew she was very close but she wanted to hit the peak with him – she needed him, all of him, to really take her over the edge. “Harry..please..,” she repeated his name more urgently as she grabbed his hair.

“Tell me what you want Katie,” he murmured, his voice thick with passion, his blue eyes holding hers captive. 

“I want you Harry.. all of you.. forever,” she confessed, her defences completely melted away . At her words a smile crossed his face as he obliged her and he whispered in her ear “I love you too Katie”.

He moved slowly at first, surprising them both with the self-control he’d managed to develop since their first time, a few short months ago. Kate grabbed him, wanting and needing more as he kept her on the brink, continuing to move with maddening slowness, until she couldn’t wait any longer to go over the edge. With that thought in mind she kissed the spot on his neck, just under his ear that she knew drove him crazy, which broke his resolve, his control slipping as he finally started moving faster & harder with her until they went over the edge together, leaving them both gasping for breath.

“Merry Christmas Katie,” Harry whispered with a grin when he finally regained the power of speech.

“I’ll say,” Kate replied with a satisfied sigh, then added “Merry Christmas Harry,” as she kissed him tenderly and Harry thought to himself as he enveloped her in his strong, lean arms that this Christmas definitely made up for all the not so great ones, or even non-existent ones he had had in the past…


	9. Chapter 9

A couple of weeks later Harry & Kate headed to the local pub to catch up with their group of friends. They found them crowded around a table in a corner of the noisy bar, Freddy waving them over as he spotted them making their way through the throng of people. “Sorry you two there’s not many chairs to spare,” Trish commented as she nodded to the only empty chair at the table.

“No worries – Katie’s seat is right here, isn’t that right babe?” Harry chuckled with a cheeky grin as he sat down on the chair and pointed towards his lap and pulled her into it.

“You got it tiger,” Kate laughed back as she kissed him and put an arm round his shoulders, and Chalkie focused his gaze on the floor, trying to look anywhere but at the two of them, given the crush he had on Kate.

“Geez do you two ever stop?” he complained as both Kate & Harry grinned.

“Nope,” Harry replied mischievously as he grabbed a handful of nuts off the table and tossed them into his mouth, putting his other hand around Kate’s waist as he did so.

The bunch of them continued laughing, chatting and drinking as the night wore on. After a while Kate commented as she nodded towards the makeshift stage at the front of the pub, “Who’s that poor excuse for a singer they’ve got up there? He’s shite,” as the others nodded in agreement.

“Well looks like he’s taking a break, thank the Lord – why don’t you give it a shot O’Casey and show this place someone who can really sing?” Harry encouraged her, his blue eyes twinkling at her.

“Oh I don’t know..,” she hesitated a bit but when their friends started egging her on as well she decided to give it a shot. “Oh what the hell – why not?” she announced with a grin as Harry gave her a kiss for luck as she went up to the publican and asked him if he minded her doing a song or two. The publican looked at the young Irish girl and decided to give her a go – she couldn’t be any worse than the guy he’d hired for the night, he thought to himself.

She borrowed a guitar from the band then walked up to the microphone. “Ah hi folks – my name’s Kate O’Casey and if you don’t mind I’d like to sing a couple of songs for you,” she said with a smile as her friends clapped & cheered loudly, Harry the loudest as he whistled as well.

“This one’s from my homeland – feel free to sing along if you know it,” she said with a grin as she started singing ‘Danny Boy’. Harry couldn’t take his eyes off her as she sang – it always took his breath away when he listened to her and he wondered, not for the first time, if she really knew how good she was. The previously rowdy pub-goers all stopped and started to listen, some of them singing along, amazed at the beautiful voice coming out of this young girl.

As she got to the last line of the song her eyes found Harry’s in the crowd and she changed the line to , “Oh Harry boy I love you so,” as a lopsided grin crossed his face and she winked at him. With that the crowd erupted with cheering and applause and the publican looked very pleasantly surprised.

“That’s my girl up there!” Harry shouted proudly over the din as she laughed and blew him a kiss.

She then thanked the crowd and said, “Glad you liked that one. Now who feels like having a dance?” as the crowd roared their approval.

“Let’s shake it up a bit then shall we?” she stated with a cheeky grin as she began playing the guitar riff from ‘Johnny Be Good’ then started singing as everyone started dancing and singing along. They’d assumed she was just another Celtic folk singer, expecting her to play some Irish ditty, but she surprised them all when she showed them she could rock as well.

Again Harry found himself watching her - she was really in her element and the joy it brought her lit up her pretty face and warmed his heart. Harry and their friends (as well as the rest of the pub) were somewhat amazed not only by how well she sang but also played the guitar, her fingers flying over the strings with an ease borne out of years of practice. As she finished that one to thunderous applause again, she went to take her leave but the crowd kept cheering, “More, more!!”

“Alright, alright – just one more then. I don’t want my guy getting lonely over there you know,” she laughed as she gave him a meaningful look and he grinned at her.

“You lucky bastard,” some guy standing next to Harry remarked to him as his grin got even wider.

Kate then launched into ‘Twist and Shout’ much to the delight of the crowd who were having as much fun as she was. When she’d finished the song she thanked them all, totally amazed at how they had reacted to her. She then took a bow as a grin spread across her face, and went back to Harry and the others, not before the publican pulled her aside and booked her to play the next Friday night.

“Bloody hell Katie you were amazing!” Harry congratulated her with an excited, proud grin as their friends all agreed, as he picked her up excitedly and kissed her. “So do I get to take the rock star home?” he breathed into her ear, his lips curving into a smile.

“Oh if you play your cards right you never know,” she retorted cheekily as he cocked an eyebrow at her and quipped, “Well you know I always win at cards Katie.”

Not willing to let him have the last word, Kate took off her leather jacket, looking him in the eye as she said, “Is it getting hot in here or what?” enjoying teasing him a little bit as she ran a hand through her hair, knowing full well what that would do to him. Harry gulped visibly as he cast an appreciative eye over her figure, before pulling her onto his lap again and shaking his head with a grin at her cheekiness.

They continued on chatting and drinking for some time, all of them on a high from Kate’s performance, but no more so than her and Harry. Inevitably Harry turned the conversation around to movies as everyone groaned. “Ah.. _The Thomas Crown Affair, Faye Dunaway, Steve Mc Queen, United Artists, 1967,_ ” he rattled off.

“1968,” Kate corrected him as he looked at her.

“No – it’s 1967. I’m sure of it,” he replied adamantly, confident in his almost encyclopaedic knowledge of movies.

“Well I’m sure it’s 1968 – you’re full of shite Harry,” Kate countered with a laugh. “The song from it, _Windmills of your Mind,_ won the Best Song Oscar in 1968.”

“Oh she might have you there Harry – Kate knows her music,” Chalkie remarked with a grin as Kate nodded and Harry shot them both withering looks.

“You don’t know everything Mr Movies,” she added as she playfully poked her tongue out at Harry in response to his look.

“Oh shut up Katie,” he shot back, starting to get a little narky as he didn’t want to lose face in front of his mates.

“No you shut up Harry,” she threw straight back at him as she jumped up, starting to get a bit annoyed with him.

“Oh here they go again,” Freddy remarked with a laugh – as much as he knew his two friends were crazy about each other, they also seemed to have a knack for driving each other crazy at times as well. They certainly knew how to push each other’s buttons, in more ways than one, he thought to himself with a chuckle.

Harry then grabbed her and said “I’ll shut you up O’Casey,” as he kissed her very, very thoroughly and they quickly forgot what they had been arguing about…


	10. Chapter 10

A week or so later Kate headed to London for the day to try her luck busking up there. She’d set herself up at Charing Cross Tube station and was doing alright with her takings which she was happy about. She smiled at the small crowd gathered around her as she sang and played her guitar, never realising her life was about to change forever.

As she finished off a few songs and stopped to take a swig of water, a middle- aged man stepped out from the dispersing crowd and came up to her. “You’re pretty good,” he commented with a smile as she smiled and thanked him. “What’s your name?” he asked.

“Kate..Kate O’Casey,” she replied.

“Pleased to meet you Kate – I’m Miles, Miles Walker,” he stated as a look of both shock and recognition crossed her face. She had heard the name Miles Walker – he was a successful record producer who she knew produced some of the biggest names currently in the music industry.

“Oh I’m very pleased to meet you Mr Walker – I love your work,” Kate enthused as a grin crossed her face.

He smiled at her and said,” Thank you and you can call me Miles, please - Mr Walker makes me feel old. So do you write your own songs as well?”

Kate nodded, not quite believing she was having this conversation. “Can you play me one?” he asked.

“Sure,” Kate replied as she started singing and playing one she’d been working on. Miles smiled as he listened to her and watched her, getting the feeling he had just discovered something very special.

“That’s a great song,” Miles remarked with admiration when she’d finished as she thanked him. “Are you signed with anyone?” he asked as Kate shook her head. “No not yet.”

“Well in that case how about you drop by my office tomorrow and we’ll see what we can do about that,” Miles said with a warm smile as he handed her his business card. Kate took it, still in a state of shock as she thanked him profusely. “I’ll see you tomorrow then – say about ten?” Miles said as Kate nodded and smiled, “You certainly will.”

After that Kate quickly gathered up her guitar and takings and hopped back on a train to Brixton, wanting to share her exciting news with the person who meant the most to her in the world. She found him in their local pub playing a game of pool with his mate Freddy.

She ran into the pub and practically bowled Harry over as she hugged him excitedly. “Harry! You’re never going to believe what just happened! Oh my God I can’t believe it!” she exclaimed hurriedly as he grinned at her.

“Whoa slow down Katie,” he laughed. “What happened?” he asked as she told him how she’d just been approached by Miles Walker.

“And he wants me to come to his office tomorrow – can you believe it? I might be getting a record contract Harry!” she said, her face aglow as Harry smiled. After all her hard work and with her talent she deserved it he thought.

“That’s fantastic Katie! I’m so proud of you!” he exclaimed happily as he hugged her. “So what time do we need to be at his office tomorrow?”

“We?” she asked quizzically. “Yes we O’Casey – I’m coming with you. Someone’s gotta make sure this guy does the right thing by my girl and doesn’t rip you off,” he stated determinedly as she smiled at him and kissed him, glad for his support and encouragement and how protective he was of her.

The next day the two of them caught a train up to London, Kate fidgeting a little nervously during the trip. Harry gave one of her hands a reassuring squeeze and grinned at her – he’d never seen her this nervous. “Relax Katie – it’s gonna be fine. This Walker bloke’ll be lucky to have you on his books,” he said encouragingly as she nodded and thanked him with a smile.

When they got to Miles’s office they sat in the reception area waiting for a little while. Kate got up to have a look at the gold records adorning the walls, of artists he’d produced and managed over the years. “Wow!” she said under her breath, recognising the names. Harry got up and went and stood next to her. “You’re gonna have one of them one day Katie,” he stated confidently as she laughed. “Oh I don’t know about that Harry,” she replied a little unsurely. “Well I do,” he said confidently, his blue eyes twinkling at her.

Just then Miles came out of his office. “Kate – sorry to keep you waiting. Come on in,” he greeted her, wondering who the young man with her was.

“Miles this is my boyfriend Harry,” Kate introduced them as they shook hands.

“Your girl here is very talented,” Miles said with a smile as Harry looked at him, sizing him up a bit and replied, “Yes she sure is.”

Miles showed them into his office and invited them to take a seat. “So Kate I have a proposition for you..,” Miles started as he noticed her boyfriend bristling a bit.

“Relax mate... I meant a business proposition. No offence sweetheart but you’re not really my type if you get my drift,” Miles stated as he gave both Kate & Harry a meaningful look as they both got what he meant.  He then went on. “You see Kate I’ve been looking for a lead singer for a rock band I’ve been trying to put together and when I heard you singing and saw you perform yesterday I thought to myself, ‘she’s the one’. Would you be interested in that?”

At that an excited smile crossed Kate’s face. “Are you kidding me? Of course I’m interested!” she replied as Miles smiled.

“Well in that case I just need you to sign a few papers. Do you have a manager?” Kate shook her head. “Well you do now – I manage some acts as well as producing,” Miles explained.

“Sounds good to me – thanks Miles I really appreciate this opportunity,” Kate stated gratefully, her green eyes twinkling with excitement and happiness.

“Trust me Kate, I know a good opportunity when I see one,” Miles replied with a warm smile.

“So here’s your contract – I just need your signature down the bottom,” he added as he went to hand her the contract and a pen. 

“Before you sign anything Katie, can I have a look over that?” Harry suddenly said as both Kate and Miles looked at him in surprise. It was on the tip of Kate’s tongue to say “What do you know about record contracts Harry?” but she thought better of it when she observed the serious look on his face.

“Be my guest,” Miles replied as he handed the contract to the young man. Harry scanned over it, making out like he knew what he was doing. “So this says you get fifteen per cent of her royalties – is that right?“ he asked.

“Yes that’s right – that’s fairly standard for the music industry,” Miles replied. Harry stared at him, his blue eyed gaze never wavering and said, “Make it ten and you’ve got yourself a deal.”

“Harry!” Kate exclaimed in shocked protest, not knowing whether to feel annoyed or grateful.

“What Katie? I’m just trying to look out for you,” he replied with a shrug.

Miles shook his head with a wry smile. “Okay ten it is – your guy here drives a hard bargain Kate.”

Kate then signed the contract with her full name. “Kathleen Kelly O’Casey huh?” Miles said as he mulled over her name then asked her, ”How would you feel about shortening it to Kate Kelly for your stage name?”

Kate thought it over for a moment or two – it had a ring to it she guessed. “Yeah I guess that would be okay.”

“Great! Well welcome to the team Kate,” Miles said with a smile as they shook hands. “So can you be here on Friday to meet the rest of the band members and have a bit of a rehearsal?” he asked as Kate enthusiastically nodded, still not quite believing what had happened. Just like that she had a record contract and was going to be the lead singer for a rock band – it was a dream come true!

She thanked Miles then got up to leave, expecting Harry to get up as well. “I’ll be out in a tick Katie – I just want to have a quick chat to Miles, man to man,” he said as Kate looked at him quizzically, wondering what on earth he was up to.

“Okay,” she replied slowly as she left them to it.

Miles looked at the young man sitting in front of him a little warily, wondering what this was all about. “So what can I help you with Harry?” he asked.

Harry regarded him for a moment then said, “I just want to make sure we understand each other Mr Walker,” he stated, his voice with a hard edge to it as Miles looked at him a bit surprised.

In reply to his questioning look Harry went on. “I don’t want to see Kate getting ripped off, so if you don’t do the right thing by her you’ll have me to answer to okay?” he said a little menacingly, his blue eyes suddenly cold, as he stood up and leant over the desk.

Miles didn’t know whether to feel alarmed or amused by this teenager making a thinly veiled threat. “I can assure you Harry I have no intention of ripping her off. Kate is a rare talent and I want to help her nurture that and help her become the star I feel she’s destined to be,” he replied as Harry looked satisfied with that.

“Damn right she is,” he replied, then added, ”Good – as long as we understand each other.”

“Oh yes I think I understand you Harry very well,” Miles replied as he stared back at the younger man, hoping he wasn’t going to cause trouble for her. With that Harry nodded and left the office as Miles shook his head a bit, wondering what Kate saw in him. Oh he was handsome enough he noted, but he was rough around the edges – maybe that’s what the attraction was for her he supposed.

“What was that all about?’ Kate demanded when Harry came out of Miles’s office. “What did you have a chat about – ‘man to man’?” she threw at him a little sarcastically as Harry looked at her, a bit puzzled by her reaction.

“I was just making sure he wasn’t going to rip you off Katie,” he replied. "

"Well I appreciate your concern Harry but I’m a big girl, I think I can handle it,” she retorted, her green eyes flashing at him.

“Oh really?” Harry threw back at her, his anger rising to meet hers. “You were so bloody starstruck O’Casey you would have signed your life away. I got you an extra five per cent didn’t I?” he added as a pout spread across his face, making him look like a little boy, which he knew she couldn’t resist.

“Alright, alright – don’t look at me like that,” Kate replied with a laugh as she shook her head at him. “Thankyou,” she added as she kissed him. “Just take it easy with the ‘tough guy’ stuff okay – I do work for this guy now,” she pointed out with a grin as he grinned back at her.

“C’mon rock star let’s get out of here,” Harry said as he put an arm around her and she laughed, “Oh I’m not one yet Harry.”

“But you will be Katie, you will be,” he replied confidently as he kissed her and they walked out of the building, both wondering what her future may hold.

**********************************

After leaving Miles Walker’s office after signing her record contract Kate turned to Harry and said, ”So what do you want to do now?”

He stopped walking and took her into his arms. ”Well we could go to Daniel’s and ah.. celebrate?” he suggested, his left eyebrow going up in a devilish fashion as Kate couldn’t help the smile that crossed her face. Since they had first made love some months ago Harry had had something of a one track mind, although she had to admit the feeling was mutual.

“Ah I see.. what did you have in mind? A cake perhaps?” she teased him with a cheeky grin.

“Not exactly what I had in mind,” he quipped with a grin of his own as he kissed her in a way that left no doubt as to what he did have in mind.

“Are you sure Daniel won’t be there?” Kate asked. Harry shook his head.

“He’s hardly ever there this time of day,” he reassured her as she nodded in agreement and they headed to the Tube station to catch a train to Daniel’s place.

When they got to Daniel’s Harry knocked on the door just to check. When there was no answer he quickly opened the door and he was kissing her before they even got inside. He took her by the hand and led her in the direction of his bedroom, closing the door behind them, as they started undressing each other rather urgently. When Harry got his foot stuck in the leg of his jeans in his hurry to get them off, Kate couldn’t help but giggle at him.

He shot her a fake annoyed look. “You could give me a hand here instead of laughing you know,” he stated with a laugh of his own.

“Oh I’ll give you a hand,” Kate replied with a mischievous grin as she came up to him and closed a hand over his very evident arousal, taking his breath away as she did so.

“Why you little minx,” he laughed at her boldness as he paid her back in kind.

“You love it,” she replied playfully between kisses.

“That I do ,” he replied , his voice husky and his eyes turning a deep cobalt blue, as they fell back onto the bed together, both just clad in their underwear.

Harry was just moving to undo her bra, which with a bit more practice he had become a rather deft hand at doing, when they both heard the door to the flat open. They froze momentarily as Harry swore under his breath. “It’s Daniel,” he stated the obvious in a whisper as Kate rolled her eyes at him.

“I gathered that. I thought you said he wouldn’t be here?” she demanded in a hushed tone. Harry shrugged an apology. “What do we do now then?” she whispered urgently at him.

“I don’t know,” he whispered back in a panic.

Daniel meanwhile had walked into the flat and noticed the door to the bedroom Harry used when he stayed there was closed and he wondered if he was there. “Harry?” he called as Harry & Kate exchanged a nervous glance.

“Quick.. grab your stuff and um..hop in the closet,” he whispered urgently to Kate as he began throwing his own clothes back on.

“Ah coming Daniel,” he called out as he gave Kate a rueful grin, thinking wryly to himself, I would have been if you hadn’t walked in the door Daniel.

“The closet Harry?” Kate whispered back dubiously as she quickly gathered up her clothes.

“Well you can hardly walk out like that can you?” he replied as he gestured at her current state of undress.

“And who’s fault is that?” she threw back at him under her breath, with a meaningful look as he grinned at her and replied, “Okay I plead guilty but can you please just get in there,” he urged her. “I’ll try and get rid of him.”

Somewhat reluctantly she squeezed into the closet pulling the door shut just as Daniel walked in to see Harry pulling his t-shirt on. He looked at Harry curiously as his young protégé forced a smile onto his face. “Oh hi Daniel – I was just having a nap,” he explained hurriedly.

Daniel looked at him  skeptically. ”Funny .. I could have sworn I heard voices,” he replied.

“Really?” Harry replied with fake innocence. “I ah.. must have been talking in my sleep,” he added, a grin crossing his face as he tried to convince Daniel.

“Bit early in the day for a nap isn’t it?” Daniel challenged him, trying to hide the amused smirk that was threatening to cross his face.

“Oh you know.. you can never get too much sleep eh? I was feeling a bit tired so thought I ‘d come here and have a kip for a while,” Harry replied, trying hard to not look guilty.

Daniel smiled at him thinking to himself, never try to con a con-man, Harry my boy. As he looked at him Daniel also noticed out of the corner of his eye a shoe on the floor which clearly didn’t belong to Harry, which in her haste Kate had forgotten to pick up. He decided to have a bit of fun with his young protégé, as he realised what was going on, or rather what had been going on before he interrupted. “Actually I was looking for that brown jacket of mine – I was wondering if I might have put it in here,” Daniel stated casually as he went to open the closet door.

Harry however quickly jumped in front of him, stopping him from opening it. “Ah I wouldn’t open that closet Daniel,” Harry stammered hurriedly. Kate meanwhile was holding her breath nervously inside, trying not to make a sound.

“Oh why’s that Harry?” Daniel asked nonchalantly.

“Um.. horrible mess. I’ve been meaning to clean it out,” the young man replied hurriedly as Daniel tried to hide a grin, suspecting what, or rather who, he would most likely find if he opened the closet door. “I’m pretty sure I saw that brown jacket in your room,” Harry added as Daniel nodded, deciding to put the poor boy out of his misery.

”Hmm.. perhaps you’re right now I think of it. Well I only popped in for that – must dash. I’ll ah.. leave you to get back to your ‘nap’ then shall I?” Daniel stated as a relieved look crossed Harry’s face.

“Ah yes thanks Daniel – dreadfully tired you know,” Harry faked a yawn. “Yes I’m sure you are my boy,” Daniel replied with a twinkle in his eye.

He went to step out of the room and then turned back to the young man. “Ah by the way Harry, to avoid suspicion in the future you may want to make sure you don’t put your t-shirt on inside out when you’re getting dressed in a hurry ,” Daniel quipped with a grin as Harry looked at him with both shock at being found out & a good deal of embarrassment. “Oh and give Kate my regards won’t you,” Daniel stated with a chuckle and a knowing look as he walked out closing the door behind him.


	11. Chapter 11

_With more than a little amusement as he thought back over his past, Remington recalled a time when he’d witnessed Kate in action. He’d discovered that day that to threaten her was one thing but to threaten someone she loved & cared about, well that was another matter altogether to Kate. She didn’t give her loyalty easily but when she did she took it very seriously & woe betide anyone who hurt someone she cared about._

He had been bailed up by two small time crooks, quite nasty buggers as he recalled, who he & Daniel had swindled out of a bit of money and who had taken none too kindly to it. They’d managed to stay two steps ahead of them but this particular day they had caught him unawares, trapping him in a dead end lane. Outnumbered, he felt his best bet was to try and talk his way out of it, but he wasn’t having much luck. “C’mon fellas we were going to pay you back – this is all just a misunderstanding,” he stated, forcing a smile into his face.

“Save it ‘arry – you & Chalmers fleeced us good & proper. So I think it’s about time we taught you a little lesson,” one of the thugs replied in a strong Cockney accent as he grabbed him and pulled his arms roughly behind his back and the other one punched hard in the stomach, doubling him over in pain.

Kate had been wandering the streets looking for him, but she couldn’t find him in any of his usual haunts. She’d bumped into his mate Chalkie who’d told her he’d seen him heading in that direction. As she walked past the laneway she heard arguing and a distinct groan of pain. She looked closer and saw with a mix of fear & rage that two guys had Harry bailed up and were laying into him.

“Hey!” she yelled angrily as she stormed towards them, putting her own safety to the back of her mind. The three young men stopped for a moment to look at her.

“Katie – get out of here.” Harry implored her. “I can handle this.”

“Of course you can Harry – looks like you’re doing a bloody good job of it,” she retorted somewhat sarcastically. “I’m not going anywhere,” she added adamantly as she glared at the two thugs who were beating up her boyfriend. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she demanded angrily, her hands on her hips.

The two thugs were too stunned at first to reply - this young, pretty little thing, daring to talk to them like that. “What’s it to you luv?” one of them replied.

“What - she your girlfriend or something ‘arry?” the other one asked.

“Damn right I am – now let him go!” Kate answered for him.

“Or what?” the one who’d punched him laughed. “Feel like taking us on do you luv? Oh I’ll take you on sweetheart – give you a better time than pretty boy here could,” he added as he moved closer to her, a lecherous look on his face. At that, Harry tried to pull free of the other guy’s strong grip, a look of jealous anger crossing his face as he tried to spring to her defence to no avail.

A sly grin crossed Kate’s face as she caught Harry’s eye. What’s she up to? he thought to himself, recognising that look in her eye. Feigning interest in the thug she grabbed his jacket collar with both hands and pulled him closer to her as a smug grin crossed his face.

“Looks like your bird fancies him ‘arry,” the one holding him taunted him with a cruel laugh, his words wounding him as much as the earlier punch had, as Harry wondered what she was doing. “Aren’t you giving it to her enough or something?” the thug added crudely as Harry swore at him, desperately trying to break free.

“Oh really?” she said to the thug who was looming over her, lacing her voice with fake huskiness, then whispered in his ear, “I doubt that very much,” as she swiftly kneed him in the groin, bringing him to the ground as he howled in pain.

“Why you little bitch!” he cursed her, his voice choked, as his mate let go of Harry to go to his aid. That was all the opportunity Kate needed – as he bent down to help his mate up, her fist shot out like a flash, her right hook connecting with his face, knocking him to the ground. He, along with Harry and the other guy who was still rolling around on the ground in pain, looked at her in shock.

“Harry..I suggest we run!” Kate stated, giving him a meaningful look.

“Good idea,’ he agreed, still not quite believing what he’d seen her do as they took off together. When they got far enough away they stopped, both catching their breath. Kate couldn’t help the excited look that had spread across her face & the adrenalin rushing through her. “We seem to be making a habit of this,” she quipped with a grin, referring to the day they had first met when the two of them had run away together from the guy who’d been hassling her, before Harry knocked him out.

Harry however wasn’t grinning. “You want to tell me what the hell that was?” he demanded a little angrily which surprised her.

She felt her own anger rising to match his. “I think it’s called saving your hide,” she threw back at him. “You’re welcome by the way,” she added furiously as he hadn’t thanked her.

“You could have got hurt,” he pointed out.

“But I didn’t did I? Unlike you,” she retorted.

He ran a frustrated hand through his hair. She was so bloody stubborn sometimes, he thought to himself. He also didn’t like the idea of her saving him when he’d been powerless to defend her. The guy always saved the girl in all the movies he’d watched, not the other way around.

“Great – now my street cred will be totally shot. Harry’s girlfriend’s gotta come to his rescue,” he muttered ruefully.

Kate’s green eyes flashed angrily at him. “Why you chauvinistic, ungrateful jerk!” she yelled at him as she shoved him in the chest. “Next time I won’t bother – see what that does to your ‘street cred’”, she spat at him. “You were outnumbered two to one Harry! Was I just supposed to stand there and watch them beat you to a pulp?” she threw at him as hot, angry tears sprang to her eyes.

He suddenly regretted his outburst, realising the depth of her feelings for him. He didn’t know what scared him more – her anger or the fact that she clearly loved him, a feeling he knew, was mutual.

Her tears cut him to the quick and all he wanted to do was wipe them away. “I’m sorry,” he apologised as he blew out a breath, his voice suddenly soft, as he took her into his arms. Angry though she was at him, that gesture melted her anger away. “Thank you,” he added as he tenderly wiped a tear away. “You’re right – I am a jerk,” he admitted with a rueful grin. She grinned back at him through her tears.

“Lucky you’re a cute one,” she replied as she kissed him and pulled him closer. ”Did they hurt you?” she asked with concern when he winced a little.

“A bit – but I’ll be okay,” he reassured her. “Now tell me – how did you learn to fight like that?” he asked with more than a little admiration.

“I went to Catholic school remember?” she reminded him with a grin as he laughed and they walked on hand in hand, Harry shaking his head at her – she never ceased to amaze him. “The ‘Kilkenny Kid’ – that’s what I’ll call you ,” he said with a laugh as she playfully hit him, coming up with the name he would one day adopt for his own boxing persona.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              


	12. Chapter 12

On the night of their six month anniversary Harry & Kate decided to celebrate by having dinner & catching a movie. Given their cash was rather tight, dinner consisted of some takeaway pizza & then Harry picked the lock to the side door of a little fleapit cinema where they were showing a Bogart movie. “Naughty boy,” Kate laughed quietly as he grabbed her hand & they snuck inside.

“And you love it,” he quipped cheekily as he wiggled his eyebrows at her.

“That I do,” she agreed,  as she flashed him a smile and they found some seats. There weren’t too many people in the cinema – an old couple sitting a few rows behind them and a few other people scattered around. “Hey we can’t have a movie without popcorn,” Harry announced as he found some money in his pocket then giving Kate a peck on the cheek he dashed out to the confectionery stand then returned shortly after with a box.

He sat down next to Kate as the movie started playing – Harry engrossed in it, Kate not so much. Sure she didn’t mind Bogart movies but she wasn’t as avid a fan as Harry was. A mischievous thought entered her head as she wondered what it would take to divert his attention away from the movie.

“Hey don’t hog it all – can I get a mouthful?” as she gave Harry a meaningful look as he busily munched away.

“Huh?” he asked, tearing his eyes away from the screen to look at her. 

“The popcorn I mean,” she quipped cheekily as he grinned at her.

“Thought you were talking about something else for a minute,” he whispered in her ear with a chuckle.

“Who says I wasn’t?” she whispered back as she nibbled on his ear a bit and then pressed her lips against that point just below his ear that she knew drove him crazy, and he gulped a little. “Well are you going to give me some? Popcorn I mean,” she laughed softly as he shook his head a little at her cheekiness and grinned. He didn’t know what had got into but he definitely liked it!

“Oh I’ll give you some Katie,” he replied in a promising tone as he grinned at her.

“Shush,” the couple a few rows behind them admonished them as they both tried not to laugh.

He went to hand Kate the box of popcorn but she shook her head and murmured “Just grab me a handful,” as he thought to himself, I wish she would, her teasing already starting to affect him. He grabbed a handful of popcorn and held it up to her mouth as she closed her mouth around the handful of popcorn and captured one of his long, slender fingers in her mouth as well, closing her lips around it suggestively.

“Katie..” he almost growled under his breath, as he shifted a little uncomfortably in his seat. She looked at him with fake innocence as she released his finger and nonchalantly munched her popcorn. “What?” she replied with a cheeky grin as he cocked an eyebrow at her.

“You know very well what” he muttered under his breath as he gave her a meaningful look. 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about – I’m just enjoying the popcorn,” she replied, trying to keep a straight face as she deliberately licked the salt off her fingers very slowly, knowing what effect that would have on him as well.

Right, two can play this game Harry thought devilishly to himself, deciding it was time for a bit of payback. He draped an arm around her and began idly tracing a finger up and down her neck, zeroing in on a particularly sensitive spot he knew she had there where she loved him to kiss her. “No fair Harry,” she whispered as she tried not to giggle as his touch tickled her.

“You started it,” he pointed out.

“So I did,” she replied as she rested a hand on his leg and gently squeezed.

“You are a wicked woman O’Casey,” he chuckled softly, his blue eyes twinkling at her.

She grinned at him then said, her voice low, “I’ll stop if you want me too.”

“You know I don’t,” he whispered in her ear then added, his voice husky as his blue eyes smouldered at her, “I really need you.” 

“I had a feeling you might,” she replied with a devilish grin as her hand moved from his leg to his groin and he practically jumped out of his seat.

“Katie!” he hissed between clenched teeth as she bit her lip to stop herself from laughing out loud.

Bugger this, I don’t care who’s watching, Harry thought to himself as he pulled her face towards his and kissed her passionately as the older couple behind started tsk, tsking. Kate responded to him just as passionately, the movie long forgotten to both of them. A few other of the cinema goers noticed them as well but they were oblivious to anyone but each other.

Harry was just about to drop his hand from her neck to somewhere a bit lower when a torch was shone in their faces and they immediately sprung apart.

“Here you two, what do you think this is? A hotel or something? C’mon out you go – this is a respectable institution, no place for inappropriate behaviour like that,” the cinema usher ordered them as he gave them a dirty look.

Harry & Kate didn’t know whether to look embarrassed or laugh. “Respectable institution? it’s a two bit fleapit,” Harry retorted cheekily.

“Go on, off with you you cheeky bugger and take your bird with you,” the usher demanded as he went to grab Harry by the jacket.

“Take it easy mate – hands off the cloth. We’re going,” Harry replied as he stood up then whispered to Kate, “Ah you better walk in front of me so I don’t embarrass myself,” giving her a pointed look and a rueful grin, as her gaze momentarily dropped to the rather obvious bulge in his jeans. She stifled a giggle as she stepped in front of him and the usher escorted them out of the cinema. “Now get out of here,” he said to them sternly as he went back inside the cinema.

Harry & Kate looked at each other then both burst out laughing. When they regained their composure somewhat Harry took Kate into his arms. 

“Now Katie how do you expect me to walk down the street in my current condition eh?” he remarked as he cocked an eyebrow at her. “I don’t see anywhere round here I can have a cold shower,” he added with a wry grin.

At this Kate looked around and with a mischievous gleam in her eye spied a store room in the corner of the deserted cinema foyer. “You don’t need one – come on. Reckon you can pick that lock?” she grinned at him as she nodded towards the storeroom.

“Are you kidding me? They haven’t invented a lock I can’t pick,” he laughed .

“Oh really? Cocky aren’t you?” Kate retorted with a grin.

“You know it,” he quipped with a devilish chuckle as they quickly made their way to the door. He fished out a pick from his pocket and had the door open in no time.

Before they went inside Kate asked him, “Harry.. have you got something?”.

“I always come prepared Katie,” he replied with a grin as he patted his pocket.

“That you do tiger,” Kate laughed huskily as making sure they weren’t seen, they disappeared inside the small room.

Kate found a light switch as they looked around the small room that was jam packed with cleaning tools and other bits and pieces stacked up to the low ceiling. Because of his height, Harry had to stoop his head. “Hmm cosy,” he commented ruefully, trying not to bang his head as Kate tried not to giggle. “Um..how exactly do you propose we..?” he asked with a meaningful look.

Kate looked around – true there wasn’t much space but she’d never been one to back down from a challenge, and Harry wasn’t the only one feeling rather impatient. “Sit down,” she instructed him.

“What?” he laughed. “Well I don’t see any other way we can do this without you banging your head,” Kate laughed as well as he nodded in agreement.

As he went to sit down Kate grabbed him by the belt buckle. “You might want to get these off first,” she stated practically.

“Right you are,” he laughed as he quickly undid his belt & jeans and pulled them off then sat down, pulling her down into his lap.

“God I hope the cleaner doesn’t come in,” Kate laughed as Harry began pushing her skirt up.

“Well I won’t be handing him a broom, that’s for sure,” Harry quipped with a grin as his mouth found hers.

Kate pushed his jacket off him and started unbuttoning his shirt, running her hands over his chest. “Katie..” he moaned rather loudly as she was driving him crazy.

“Shh,” she giggled. “We don’t want to get found out,” she added with a grin as his hands explored her as well, pulling her top off.

“Hang on.. give  me a sec,” he breathed as he ripped open a little foil wrapper he fished out of his jeans and got rid of his underwear and hers. He then positioned her over him as she straddled him. He threw his head back in ecstasy as she sunk down on him, her kisses trailing down his neck as he ran a hand through her hair and pulled her closer to him. She then took him by surprise as she playfully nipped the skin on his neck then sucked it as he groaned and moved against her. In return he bent his head and left his own mark on one of her breasts, eliciting a moan from her as he covered her mouth with his again to quieten her as he chuckled, the two of them moving against each other urgently, their passion overflowing as they quickly took each other over the edge.

Harry buried his head in Kate’s shoulder to muffle his satisfied groan as she ran a hand through his hair trying to stifle her own. When their breathing returned to normal he lifted his head up with a boyish grin. “Well that’s a first – I don’t think I’ve ever done it in a glorified broom closet before,” he laughed quietly as did Kate.

“Happy anniversary,” she quipped with a cheeky grin as she kissed him tenderly.

“I’ll say,” Harry agreed with a lopsided grin of his own. “Did you give me a hickey Katie?” he laughed as he gingerly rubbed the spot on his neck where she’d nipped him.

“Well you gave me one too,” she pointed out as they started getting dressed, realising they better get out of there before they were discovered.

“Yes well.. no-one, well except me, will see that one,” he replied. “This one though is a bit more obvious,” he pointed to his neck with a rueful grin. 

“Well I’d say I’m sorry.. but I’m not,” she replied cheekily as she poked her head carefully out the door to make sure the coast was clear before they emerged and he playfully slapped her on the behind, as he followed her out of the room.

“Naughty girl!” he stated with a grin

“It takes two to tango Harry,” she replied with a laugh as the two of them left the cinema with their arms around each other, both not quite believing what they’d just done.

 

The next day when Harry got up and was shaving he noticed the very obvious hickey on his neck and shook his head ruefully at his Katie. How am I gonna hide this from Daniel? he thought with a little embarrassment then got an idea. As he got dressed he grabbed a scarf and wrapped it round his neck. “Morning Daniel,” he greeted him as he came out of his room.

Daniel regarded him with a knowing smile. “Morning Harry.. bit warm for a scarf  isn’t it?” he stated , trying not to laugh, guessing what the young man was trying to hide.

“Oh um..I think I’m coming down with something - wanted to keep my neck warm,” Harry explained hurriedly as he faked a cough.

“Oh of course,” Daniel replied with a twinkle in his eye, not at all convinced.


	13. Chapter 13

Kate couldn’t quite believe it – Miles had just told her he’d managed to secure a gig for her and the band, now known as ‘KK and The Beat’ at the famous Marquee Club in Soho in a couple of weeks. It was a small club but very well known in the music industry in the U.K – many famous rock bands had first performed live there such as The Rolling Stones. She was both excited and nervous at the prospect and the first person she wanted to share the good news with was Harry. When she couldn’t find him in any of his usual haunts she figured he may have been at Daniel’s so she headed over there.

Daniel answered the door when she knocked on it. “Oh hello Kay,” he greeted her, deliberately calling her the wrong name. In his view the girl was getting to be an unwelcome distraction for his young protégé. He knew Harry had fallen for her & Daniel was none too happy about it - emotional attachments were an unnecessary complication in their line of ‘work’. And after ‘interrupting’ them a while back, he had realised their relationship had moved onto the next level and it would be even harder to break the hold this young girl seemed to have over Harry.

A slightly annoyed look crossed Kate’s face – she knew very well that Daniel knew her name so she didn’t know what he thought he was playing at. Though he was always charming, there was something about the man she didn’t trust. And she was concerned about the influence he seemed to have over Harry, always getting him involved in his scams and other less than legit activities.   

“Hi Daniel.. is Harry here ?” she replied, forcing a smile onto her face.

“No he isn’t I’m afraid,” Daniel stated.

“Okay thanks – I’ll leave you to it then,” Kate replied, not wanting to spend any more time than she had to with the man.

“Actually Kate I was wondering if we could have a chat about Harry – if you’ve got time of course,” Daniel said suddenly, a plan forming in his mind, as he flashed her a charming smile.

“Sure,” Kate replied a little warily, wondering what he wanted to talk about as he let her in.

“Would you like a tea or coffee perhaps?” he asked as she sat down.

“No thanks,” she replied politely. “So, what about Harry did you want to talk about Daniel?” she asked, cutting right to the chase.

“Well as you can see Kate he’s not here - I’m not sure where he is actually, or with who,” he stated slyly, hoping his comment would have the intended effect.

Her eyes narrowed a little and he knew he’d hit his mark. “What do you mean Daniel?” she asked, wondering what he was getting at.

At that Daniel shook his head. “Oh my dear – do you seriously think you’re the only girl in Harry’s life? Surely you’ve seen the way other girls look at him? He is a handsome son of a devil after all,” Daniel replied with a wry smile at the irony of his words. 

He watched as a look of shock and then anger crossed her face. She couldn’t deny she’d seen the way other girls looked at him – usually a warning glare from her was enough to make them back off though. But what about when she wasn’t with him? a little niggle of doubt started to form, just as Daniel had intended.No, Harry wouldn’t do that to me, she pushed that doubt away.

“Harry wouldn’t do that to me,” she voiced that thought, trying to sound confident.

A rueful smile crossed Daniel’s face – perhaps she was going to be a harder nut to crack than he originally thought. He realised his usual charm wasn’t going to work with her so he tried a different tack. “And why is that Kate? Let me guess – he told you he loved you,” he stated in a somewhat condescending tone. While she didn’t confirm it, he could tell by the look in her eyes it was true.

“So tell me my dear, did he say it before or after you let him have his way with you? Or during perhaps?” he added, a little crudely. ”I know you and Harry have become ‘involved’ for want of a better word. I’m not stupid Kate – I can tell when a young man’s, how do you young people say, ’getting some’,” he added, thinking to himself of the permanent grin Harry seemed to have of late.

Anger flashed in Kate’s green eyes as she jumped up. “I don’t have to listen to this,” she stated furiously as she went to storm out the door, fighting the urge to deck the guy.

“Why? Because the truth hurts?” Daniel taunted her. ”Let me tell you something about men Kate – especially young men who are thinking with what’s in their pants rather than what’s in their heads. We’ll say anything to get a woman into bed – whether we mean it or not.”

That stopped her, but only for a second. “Harry’s not like that – he meant it,” she argued.

“Oh I’m sure he did at that moment – although he was probably so carried away he didn’t know what he was saying,” he dismissed her argument, giving her a knowing look. Kate glared back at him. “

As I’m sure he means it when he says it to all the other girls who no doubt throw themselves at him when you’re not around,” he added as he caught the glimmer of hurt, angry tears in Kate’s eyes that she was fighting to hold back, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of seeing her cry. He felt a bit guilty for a moment about what he was trying to do but then justified it to himself, thinking it’s for the best, he’s better off without her.

As Kate fought back her tears she also firmed her resolve. He was not going to get the better of her. Kate O’Casey wasn’t one to back down easily from a fight, whether it was physical or verbal, so if it was a fight Daniel wanted, then a fight she’d give him. She was determined to fight for Harry.

“You don’t know anything about us Daniel, not really,” she stated. “And while we’re on the subject, what’s the deal with you and Harry anyway? You’re just using him to help you with your little scams and your ‘odd jobs’ – what sort of a life is that for him? If you cared anything about him you wouldn’t be encouraging him to follow you into a life of crime,” she threw at him angrily, turning the tables on him as Daniel looked momentarily taken aback. He hadn’t expected that. She certainly was a little spitfire he thought to himself, ironically reminding him a bit of a woman from his own past.

Regaining his composure somewhat he replied, ”Harry has a unique natural talent and I see it as my responsibility to help him nurture that.”

“Yeah as long as it suits your interests,” Kate shot back at him sarcastically. “How about you let him decide what he wants to do with his life and who he wants to spend it with for that matter?  I know he sees you as some sort of father figure but a true father wouldn’t want his child getting involved in criminal activities,” Kate stated adamantly as she noticed an odd expression cross Daniel’s face and he paused for a moment.

She took advantage of his sudden silence to deliver a parting shot. “You’re certainly a piece of work aren’t you Daniel? Are you trying to break Harry and I up? Well good luck ‘ cause it’s not going to work – I love Harry and he loves me, whether you like or not,” she threw at him determinedly as she stormed out slamming the door shut behind her.

                                                **************************************

That night Kate & Harry caught up with some friends at the local pub. Kate was unusually quiet, her mind still going back over what Daniel had said to her about Harry. “Everything ok Katie?” Harry asked her as he bought a pint of Guinness each for the two of them.

“Yeah everything’s fine Harry,” she replied forcing a smile onto her face. “Good – don’t wanna see my girl unhappy,” he replied with a lopsided grin as he gave her a quick kiss. Kate pushed away the little seed of doubt Daniel had planted as she heard Harry say ‘my girl’, trying to convince herself that she was in fact his only girl.

After a while the guys started playing pool while the girls chatted & shared some hot chips. “What do you reckon Kate?” one of the girls asked but Kate was preoccupied with looking at Harry.

“Sorry.. what?” she asked, brought back to the moment.

Her friend Trish laughed, “Oh she’s too busy perving at Harry’s ass,” as a cheeky grin crossed Kate’s face.

“Guilty as charged,” she laughed. As if on cue Harry looked up at her as he leant over the table to take his shot, his cigarette hanging out of his mouth and a lock of hair dropping over his face, and winked at her as she smiled back at him.

“You know I reckon you can tell what a fella’s like in bed by the way he plays pool,” one of the girls, Shelly, announced as the other girls, including Kate looked at her, Kate suddenly wondering where that comment had come from.

“What do you mean Shelly?” Liz, one of the other girls asked.

“Well look at Chalkie for starters – he’s all over the shop, I don’t think he could sink anything if he tried and I’m not just talking about pool,’ Shelly stated with a laugh as they all giggled.

“Oh he’d like to ‘sink it’ with Kate I reckon,’ Liz commented with a grin as Kate looked surprised.

“What are you talking about?” Kate laughed with surprise.

”Oh come off it Kate – you mean you haven’t noticed the way he looks at you when he thinks Harry won’t notice?” Trish said giving her friend a meaningful look.

“Will you keep it down girls – if Harry hears that he’ll deck him,” Kate warned as she watched Harry chatting to Chalkie.

“Now Harry – he’s a different story I reckon,“ Shelly went on. “I mean just look at the way he uses those hands. That guy knows what he’s doing – am I right Kate?” she added with a grin, as Kate looked at her for a moment, Daniel’s words ringing in her ears.

“Why do you want to know Shelly?” she asked, her eyes narrowing a bit and her tone clipped.

“Settle down Kate – I’m just making an observation,” Shelly replied, trying to laugh it off then she reached for one of the chips on Kate’s plate saying, “Are you going to eat those?”.

At that Kate smacked Shelly’s hand away and snapped at her, “Why don’t you keep your hands & your eyes to yourself?” as Shelly and the other two girls looked at her with a bit of shock. Kate then got up and stormed off to the Ladies room to cool off a bit.

“What’s got into her?’ Shelly asked a little angrily as Trish and Liz both shrugged.

After a minute or two Harry came over to the table where the girls were sitting to grab his beer. “Ladies,” he greeted them with a smile as he looked around for Kate.

“She’s in the Ladies,” Trish informed as he nodded.

“How are you Harry?’ Shelly asked as she smiled at him, deciding to make the most of the fact Kate wasn’t there.

“I’m good thanks Shelly and yourself?’ he replied politely with a grin. 

“Oh I’m very good.. now,” she replied with a smile as Trish shot her a warning look which she chose to ignore. Harry then grabbed his drink and took it back to the pool table and Shelly followed him.

“What’s she doing?” Liz said under her breath to Trish who shook her head with a frown. “I don’t know – but I know Kate’s not gonna like it,” she replied in a worried tone.

As Harry easily sunk another ball Shelly commented with a smile, “Oh great shot Harry,” as she moved closer to him.

“Luck of the Irish eh?” he quipped with a grin as she laughed and lightly put a hand on his arm.

Just then Kate came out of the Ladies Room to see Shelly with her hand on Harry’s arm and Harry grinning at her. She strode purposefully over to the pool table, trying to keep her rising anger under control.

“I thought I told you to keep your hands to yourself Shelly,” Kate said between gritted teeth, her green eyes flashing furiously.

“Oh keep your knickers on Kate we were just talking,” Shelly retorted as Harry wondered what on earth was going on.

“How about you shut up you tart and go and get your own bloke instead of trying to come onto mine,” Kate threw back at her as she gave the other girl a small shove. 

“Hey who the hell do you think you are? Don’t you push me,” Shelly spat back at her as Kate’s hand started clenching onto a fist which Harry noticed.

“Alrighty girls let’s cool down a bit eh?” he suggested as he stood in between them, wondering to himself what had got into Kate.

“Nah let ‘em go Harry , pity we haven’t got any mud in here - they could do some of that mud wrestling,” Chalkie laughed with a grin as Trish shot him a dirty look and clipped him over the back of the head.

“Not helping mate,” Harry said seriously then he turned to Kate. “C’mon let’s get out of here shall we?” he said as he grabbed her by the arm and steered her towards the door of the pub. He’d seen her riled up before but never like that.

Once they were outside he let her go. “Now do you want to tell me what that was all about Katie?” he demanded as she avoided his gaze.

”I could ask you the same thing Harry,” she shot at him angrily as he looked at her puzzled.

“What are you talking about?” he asked, genuinely perplexed.

“You and Shelly were looking pretty cosy there - is she one of your other girls Harry?” she said, the hurt showing in her voice as he looked at her with a mix of shock , confusion, hurt and anger.

“What ‘other girls’? You’re talking shite O’Casey. Where did you get a stupid idea like that from?” he shot back at her.

Kate shook her head as she blinked back her jealous, angry tears. “Why don’t you ask your friend Mr Chalmers,” she replied a little bitterly.

At that Harry looked even more confused. “What’s Daniel got to do with this?”

Kate sighed then said, “I went to Daniel’s looking for you this afternoon and he told me you weren’t there and ..”

“And what?” Harry interjected a little impatiently.

“And he implied that I wasn’t the only girl you were ‘spending time with‘ for what of a better word,” Kate finished as he looked at her incredulously, both at what Daniel had said to her and the fact that she had believed it.

“And you believed him?” he asked a little angrily as Kate felt her tears spill down her cheeks.

“I didn’t want to – I told him you weren’t like that. But I guess that was playing on my mind with Shelly tonight. She’d said some stuff before she even came up to you at the pool table. I know I over reacted a bit..” she admitted a little ruefully.

“A bit? Katie you looked ready to tear her head off,” Harry replied and he couldn’t help the grin that crossed his face as she shook her head and grinned a little as well.

“I know, I know - I went a bit crazy. I guess I let Daniel get to me and I shouldn’t have. I never should have doubted you,” she confessed as she looked intently at him.

“No you shouldn’t have you crazy mick,” Harry said as he shook his head a little wryly and returned her intent gaze. With that he took her into his arms. “You know you’re the only girl for me O’Casey huh?” he whispered into her hair as she nodded against his chest. “I don’t know why Daniel would say that,” he went on, a little dumbfounded.

“Oh I do,” Kate replied more than a little angrily, “He wants to break us up Harry – he’s never liked me, he thinks I’m just a distraction for you.”

“And what a lovely distraction you are,” Harry quipped, his blue eyes twinkling at her, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

“Harry.. I’m serious,” Kate stated.

“I know, I know,” Harry sighed.

“What’s his game anyway Harry? He acts like he’s your father sometimes but then I don’t know too many fathers who would get their kids involved in some of the scams & things he tries to get you involved in,” Kate stated disapprovingly.

At that Harry fell silent, not really knowing what to say. He had to admit over the years he had come to regard Daniel like the father he’d never known and he had learnt quite a bit from him. But still that didn’t give him the right to interfere in his love life he thought a little angrily. “Look I’ll have a word to him okay?” he finally said as Kate nodded and thanked him. “Now enough about Daniel. What do I have to do to prove to you you’re the only girl for me Katie?” he asked as he cocked an eyebrow at her.

“Just shut up and kiss me,” Kate replied with a smile as she linked her arms around his neck.

“That I can do O’Casey, that I can do,” he stated with a lopsided grin as his lips found hers, kissing away her fears.

                                                ************************************

The next day Harry let himself into Daniel’s place to be greeted by Daniel who sat there reading the newspaper. “Well good morning Harry my boy – to what do I owe the pleasure?” he asked with a hint of sarcasm as since he’d taken up with that infernal girl he was lucky to see his young protégé some weeks.

“Trust me Daniel, it’s no pleasure,” Harry replied more than a little angrily, a frown clouding his handsome features. “What did you say to Kate about me having other girls?” he demanded as Daniel thought to himself, ‘I should have guessed.’

“Look Harry, Kate may have misunderstood what I said when she dropped by yesterday  – I didn’t say you had other girls, all I said was I didn’t know where you were or who you were with,’ Daniel replied, distorting the truth somewhat, as he closed the newspaper and regarded Harry.

“Oh well that’s just great Daniel – you got her so riled up she almost had a fight with one of her friends last night. She thought she was coming onto me,” Harry threw at him.

“My oh my she does have a temper doesn’t she,” Daniel commented as Harry’s jaw clenched. “Certainly seems the jealous, possessive type doesn’t she?” he added, trying to convince Harry that he was better off without her.

“Daniel..” Harry started to argue but Daniel put a hand up to silence him as he shook his head. “Harry listen to me.. you’re young, you’ve got your whole life ahead of you. You shouldn’t be tying yourself down to just one girl at your age. Look I can see what the attraction is Harry but believe me there’s plenty of girls you could be getting that from,” Daniel stated as he gave him a knowing look.

Harry stared back at him. “I don’t want other girls Daniel, I only want her. And my relationship with Kate is none of your damn business,” he snapped. Daniel smiled a little to himself – Harry reminded him so much of himself at the same age.

With that thought in mind Daniel put up his hands in a conciliatory gesture. “Okay point taken,” he said with a smile then added, his tone serious, “Given that your relationship has ‘progressed’ for want of a better word, I hope you’re taking the necessary precautions Harry?”

At that Harry looked acutely embarrassed. “Yes of course I bloody am Daniel – I’m not an idiot,” he muttered as he avoided his mentor’s intent gaze. “Glad to hear it..I’ve..ah known of circumstances where that wasn’t the case and unfortunate consequences can sometimes occur.. for all involved,” Daniel went on as a somewhat wistful look momentarily crossed his face as he looked at the young man in front of him. Harry looked at him, a bit puzzled by his cryptic comment but he didn’t think any more of it.

“We know what we’re doing - I’ve no intention of getting her into trouble,” Harry replied adamantly.

“Ah yes well that’s all well and good Harry my boy but you know the saying ‘the path to hell is paved with good intentions’,” Daniel retorted as Harry frowned at him.

“What have you got against Kate anyway?” he threw at the older man.

“Nothing per se – I just don’t want to see you throwing your life away on some girl. I’ve got plans for you Harry – grand plans, and I’m afraid young Miss O’Casey doesn’t factor into them,” Daniel replied honestly.

“Well whether you like it or not Daniel, she’s not just ‘some girl’ and she factors into my plans – quite a lot actually,” Harry said with a determined set to his jaw as he gave Daniel a steeley glare then stormed out.

Daniel sighed to himself as he watched him leave, “Oh Harry my boy whatever am I going to do with you?”


	14. Chapter 14

A couple of weeks later Kate was at the Marquee Club getting ready to go onstage with her band. She nervously peeked out from backstage for what seemed like the umpteenth time scanning the awaiting crowd for Harry. Where was he? She thought desperately. He’d promised her he’d be there. She then caught sight of a bunch of their friends coming through the door. She rushed out from backstage expecting to see Harry with them.

“Chalkie – where’s Harry?” she asked his friend as she came up to them.

“Hey Kate – wow look at you!” Chalkie stated as he looked at her appreciatively. She was clad in a figure hugging black leather outfit.

“What do you mean where’s Harry? I thought he’d be here already?” He added as she shook her head. She didn’t know whether to be angry or worried.

“Well if he’s not with you guys where the hell is he?’ Kate said in an exasperated tone.

“I’m sure he’ll be here Kate” her friend Trish reassured her as Kate nodded, trying to convince herself.

“Yeah of course he will,” she stated confidently. He knew how important this was to her after all.

Just then Miles came up to her. “Ah Kate you’re on in five,” he stated as he nodded towards the stage. She bade her & Harry’s friends goodbye as they all wished her luck.

“Ladies and Gentlemen would you please welcome to the stage in their first performance at The Marquee Club, KK and The Beat!” the MC announced as they took to the stage and launched into their set. Kate had to admit it was an absolute buzz performing live – the audience were really getting into it, the band sounded great and the atmosphere was electric. There was just one thing missing – Harry. As she sang & played her guitar she constantly scanned the crowd for those familiar blue eyes to no avail. She tried to keep her mind on the job but as they started getting towards the end of their set with still no sign of him she could feel herself getting angrier by the minute.

“Thanks guys you’ve been a fantastic crowd! We hope you’ve enjoyed our performance tonight. This is our last song – hope you like it” Kate stated forcing a smile onto her face, and just as she did so she saw him finally walk in the door. He made his way through the crowd and as he was doing so he heard some guy say to his mate “Hey that KK’s hot! She can strum my guitar any day!” as his mate laughed in a crude fashion. Harry felt a flare of jealous anger and fought the urge to punch the guy’s lights out - he didn’t think Kate would be too happy though if he started a fight, given that she already looked pissed at him. He’d seen the look she’d shot in his direction when she spied him come in the door. You’ve got some major making up to do to her sport, he thought ruefully as instead of punching the guy he made do with accidentally on purpose stomping on his foot as he pushed past him to get closer to the stage. He had to admit he did agree with the guy though – she did look hot, decked out head to toe in black leather which showed off her curves, her hair teased, she looked every bit the rock star he knew she was destined to be. He also felt kind of proud that she would be going home with him afterwards. They had planned to go to dinner after her gig and he was looking forward to dinner but even more so their ‘after dinner activities’ & with her in that outfit he couldn’t wait. With a devilish grin he wondered if he could convince her to keep it on after the concert so he could have the pleasure of taking it off her after dinner.

“Hey Harry!” his mate Chalkie greeted him as he came up to where his & Kate’s friends stood near the stage.

“Where have you been mate? Kate’s really pissed at you getting here late!” his other friend Freddy stated as Harry looked at her up on stage and the look she gave him when he caught her eye confirmed Freddy’s comment.

“Hmm..so I see,” he replied ruefully. “I ah.. had some business to attend to,” he explained hurriedly.

“Oh I’m sure you’ll make it up to her won’t you Harry?” Trish said giving him a wink as she thought to herself, Kate’s a lucky girl. A lopsided grin crossed his face as he nodded, confident he’d be able to work her round.

After they finished the song and left the stage Harry said farewell to their friends and then went to make his way backstage to find Kate.

“Good luck mate – I think you’re gonna need it,” Freddy laughed as he gave him an encouraging pat on the back.

“Thanks Freddy – I suspect you may be right,” Harry stated wryly as he steeled himself to face the tornado that was a pissed off Kate O’Casey.

He found her in a dressing room with some of her band mates. “Hi Katie – you were fantastic!” he greeted her, putting on his most charming smile as he came into the room.

From the look on Kate’s face he suddenly got the feeling he was going to need more than charm to win her over. Kate’s band mates wisely made themselves scarce, suspecting there was going to be fireworks any minute. Kate glared at him then threw at him angrily. “How would you know? You were only there for one song! Where the hell where you Harry?”

He looked a tad uncomfortable. “Katie I’m sorry, I got here as soon as I could. Something came up unexpectedly that I had to attend to,” he tried to explain.

“Let me guess – something involving Daniel?” she spat at him accusingly. From the almost guilty look that crossed his face she knew she’d guessed correctly. She shook her head trying to fight back her hurt, angry tears. “You knew how important this was to me Harry – I needed you to be here for me”.

Harry blew out an exasperated breath. “Well I’m here aren’t I? You’re not the only one that’s got to make a living you know!” he shot back, his own temper rising to meet hers.

“And what sort of living is that Harry?” she challenged him with a furious look.

His jaw clenched in anger. “Well it never seemed to bother you before – but now you’re a big rock star aren’t I good enough for you?” he yelled at her, his insecurities getting the better of him. Kate looked at him in shock wondering how he could even think that.

“No of course not!” she went to protest but he cut her off. “Kate we’ve been through this before. This is what I do and if you don’t like it..”

“If I don’t like it -what??” she interjected, her green eyes flashing at him. “What are you saying Harry?” she demanded as he instantly regretted his words and what they’d implied.

“Nothing. I didn’t mean that..” he went to apologise but she cut him off.

“At least I see now where your loyalty lies,” she stated coldly.

He went to reply but just then Miles Walker opened the door to the dressing room. He’d heard Kate and her boyfriend arguing in there and was hesitant to interrupt but the music biz waited for no man, or woman for that matter. “Ah Kate sorry to interrupt but there’s some journalists waiting who’d like to do an interview with you,” he stated.

“That’s fine Miles –we’re done here anyway,” she replied as she shot Harry a filthy look and he suddenly wondered what she meant by that. Surely she wasn’t saying they were over? he thought desperately. She stormed past him trying to compose herself as she followed Miles out of the room.

“I gather that means we’re not having dinner??” Harry called after her a little sarcastically then he punched the wall in anger, nursing his throbbing hand regretfully afterwards.

                                                ***********************************

He got back to Daniel’s not long after, storming through the door after he’d opened it. Daniel was surprised to see him. “Harry, I didn’t expect to see you here so early, if at all. I thought you and Kate were having dinner after her show?” he stated. Despite his efforts to stir up trouble between them they still seemed to be very much together which annoyed him no end. But as he looked at the angry, hurt look on his young protégé’s face he felt suddenly hopeful that perhaps that had changed.

“So did I,” Harry muttered angrily in reply. “What happened?” Daniel asked.

Harry sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. “She was ticked off I got there late after our ‘job’ and we ended up having a huge fight,” he explained.

Daniel shook his head. “Well I’m sorry to have to be the one to say I told you so Harry,” he stated, then went on, deciding to make the most of the situation and try and get this girl out of his life once and for all. “I mean who does she think she is? Does she think you’re just at her beck and call like some, what do they call them, groupie? Doesn’t she realise you’ve got your own life to lead?” Daniel threw at him and by the look on Harry’s face he knew his words were hitting home.  Exactly, Harry thought to himself somewhat angrily, but he didn’t really want to admit it to Daniel.

“Oh Harry my boy I’m afraid to say now her star’s on the rise, it seems your lives are headed in two different directions doesn’t it?” Daniel posed the question as Harry looked at him intently.

“Listen the Major’s just called me – wants to catch up for a nightcap. How about you come along? Might take your mind off things,” Daniel offered.

Harry shook his head. “Thanks for the offer Daniel but I think I’ll just have a shower, make myself something to eat and hit the sack,” he replied a little morosely.

“Okay up to you my boy. Just have a think about what I said hey?” Daniel said to him with a meaningful look as he walked out the door leaving Harry to his troubled thoughts.

                                                **************************************

Harry had just jumped under the shower when he heard the doorbell ringing insistently. Who could it be at this hour? he thought to himself as he reluctantly got out of the shower. Deciding he better throw some clothes on before he answered it he quickly towelled himself off and grabbed a pair of grey track pants and pulled them on, not bothering with a shirt. “Yes can I help you?” he asked as he opened the door. “Kate!” he exclaimed, rather surprised to see her there after their earlier fight.

Kate’s breath momentarily caught in her throat as she took in the sight of him – his hair still wet from the shower, a few locks hanging over his handsome face, and a few droplets of water running down his bare chest. God he even looked good in track pants, Kate thought to herself as she took in the outline of his long legs.

Mind on the game Kate, she told herself firmly – you’re here to talk to him, she reminded herself. “Hi Harry,” she stated a little awkwardly, feeling somewhat ashamed about how she’d spoken to him earlier. The hurt look that clouded his blue eyes and the frown that furrowed his brow broke her heart.

“I didn’t expect to see you here,” he stated flatly, as he gave her a pointed look.

“Look Harry .. can we talk?” Kate asked, her voice quiet.

Harry leant against the door frame as a bitter laugh escaped his lips. “I don’t want to talk Kate,” he stated adamantly then added, “Didn’t you say enough already before?”

Kate sighed as she rubbed her forehead. “What do you want then Harry?” she asked.

He hesitated for a moment before answering, his blue eyes holding hers intently. “I want you Kate – forever and a day, but it seems I’m not good enough for you,” he stated, the pain her earlier words had inflicted showing in his voice.

Kate looked at him in shock as she realised how much she had hurt him. “Oh Harry – is that what you think? Oh my God, nothing could be further from the truth,” she reassured him as tears sprang to her eyes. “Look  I know you probably don’t want to see me right now but can I come in so we can sort this out – please,” she pleaded with him.

He sighed as he opened the door and stood aside so she could come in. He closed the door then sat down on the lounge as Kate came and sat down next to him.

She paused for a moment trying to find the right words to make this right between them. The tension between them was killing her. She watched Harry out of the corner of her eye – he was so angry & hurt he couldn’t even look at her as he sat there with his jaw clenched and his gaze firmly focused on the floor.

“Harry how could you even think I would think that?” she asked.

“You said we were done,” he echoed her earlier words, his voice choked with emotion, as he finally looked at her and he looked so much like that lonely, unloved little boy he had once been that she just wanted to hold him & kiss him & reassure him it was going to be alright. Kate shook her head, realising he had misunderstood her words.

“I meant the conversation, not us Harry. I would never say that – I would never do that to you,” she stated sincerely as she looked him in the eye. “I love you Harry – you are the world to me. And if my music career is going to do this to us then I’ll go down to Miles’ office tomorrow and rip up my record contract,” she said , laying her heart on the line to make him see what he meant to her, as her tears finally spilt over.

Harry looked at her in shock. “You would really do that? For me?” he asked incredulously. Harry had never really had anyone care about him that much in his entire life.

“In a heart beat,” Kate replied with a smile.

Harry shook his head. “I wouldn’t want you to do that Kate – give up your dream for me,” he replied.

“What good is a dream if I don’t have you?” Kate replied softly as she took one of his hands in hers. “I’m sorry for going off at you like that Harry – I shouldn’t have said what I did. After all you did get there – better late than never hey?” she said with a grin, trying to lighten the mood somewhat.

“Yeah but I let you down,” Harry replied a little guiltily. “I wanted to be there for the whole show believe me,” he went to say but she put a finger to his lips.

“I do believe you,” she reassured him. 

With that he ran a hand through his still wet hair, slicking it back off his face. “Katie you’ve got to understand something though – Daniel has in his way, been very good to me. I know the two of you don’t exactly see eye to eye, but if it wasn’t for Daniel I don’t know where I’d be today or if I’d even be alive for that matter,” he confessed as Kate looked at him somewhat shocked. “So if he asks for my help it’s the least I can do to give it to him,” he tried to explain.

Kate nodded. “I know. I guess I just worry about you sometimes,” she confessed. At that he looked at her and he finally smiled the lopsided smile she loved - the one she had almost feared she would never see again.

“I know you do,” he said gratefully. It was still somewhat of a new experience for Harry – having someone worry about him.

“I’m sorry too – I said some things I shouldn’t have,” he confessed, his blue eyes holding her green ones intently.

“I don’t want to fight with you like that again Harry,” Kate stated, her voice barely a whisper, as he realised she was hurting too.

“Neither do I”, he agreed as he tenderly brushed a tear off her cheek. As he looked at her he realised he needed to show her just how much she meant to him, how much he felt for her  - he’d always been one for deeds rather than words, so he wanted to show her in the best way he knew how.

With that thought in mind he leaned forward and kissed her, his lips brushing hers ever so softly and then he gently kissed her tears way. Kate felt her heart melting at his tenderness, the last of her anger fading away. How could you be angry with someone who made you feel like this? she wondered to herself. And just as Harry had thought to himself, Kate thought she needed to show him how she felt about him – that he was the most important thing in the world to her. She ran a hand through his wet hair as she kissed him back and he pulled her closer to him. She could feel his body responding to her through his track pants and she momentarily tore her mouth away from his to say with a cheeky grin, “Shouldn’t you finish your shower?”

He grinned back at her, and cocked an eyebrow mischievously at her, ”I suppose I should – care to join me?”

The look in her eyes gave him all the answer he needed as he got up from the lounge and taking her by the hand led her into the bathroom, closing the door behind them.

“Ah Daniel’s not likely to be coming back tonight is he?’ Kate asked with a laugh, not really wanting to be interrupted again as he had done to them previously, as Harry started turning on the taps.

“Not likely,” Harry replied, then added with a grin, ”Frankly my dear I don’t give a damn,” as he took her into his arms.

“Don’t tell me  - _Gone with the Wind_ ,  _Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, MGM, 1939_ ,” Kate laughed as he looked at her, impressed.

“Ah not bad Katie,” he quipped. “Well if you can’t beat them, join them I say,” she laughed as did he, both of them glad to be laughing together again.

With that he tugged her t-shirt out of her jeans – he was a bit disappointed she didn’t still have on the black leather outfit she’d worn on stage but hey, it was coming off anyway he thought with a grin. “Why the grin?” Kate asked as her own hands went to the tie of his track pants.

”Oh just thinking about that outfit you were wearing on stage tonight,” Harry replied with a cheeky grin.

“Oh you liked that huh?” she asked, her voice husky as he pulled her to him and kissed her very, very thoroughly.

“Answer your question?” he breathed in her ear as she nodded, unable to find her voice. With that they practically tore the rest of their clothing off then jumped in the shower. “Turn around,” Harry murmured as Kate did so, as he grabbed the soap and started running it over her back and lower as she leaned against the tiles ,enjoying the feel of the hot water and his hands on her. When he put the soap aside and his hands worked their way round to the front of her body she felt her legs tremble at his touch and what he was doing to her. His kisses trailed down her neck to her shoulder and when he playfully nipped it she couldn’t stifle a giggle. “Harry!” she exclaimed as she turned around to face him. “What?” he asked with fake innocence, his blue eyes twinkling with both passion and mischief.

Thinking two can play that game Kate’s hands began their own explorations, trailing a line down his wet chest to his stomach and below, and when her hand closed around him he almost felt his knees buckle. “Katie..” he practically growled as she smiled a seductive smile at him, knowing full well the effect she was having on him, as it was the same he had on her.

“What?” she echoed his words with the same fake innocence as he grinned and shook his head at her. Oh his Katie was something else, he thought to himself.

“You wanna play huh?’ he laughed with a challenging look in his smouldering blue eyes.

“Game on,” she replied returning the look with a mischievous grin. With that he pushed her up against the tiled wall, his hands caressing her breasts as he kissed her long and hard, leaving them both breathless.

“No fair,” she murmured with a smile, her breath ragged as he smiled back at her and whispered in her ear as he nibbled on it.

“Oh all’s fair in love and war Katie.” With that she ran her hands down his back, coming to rest on his delectable rear which she playfully squeezed. He chuckled and went to grab her to return the favour, but he ended up grabbing air as she dropped to her knees in front of him and before he had a chance to register what she was doing she had taken him into her mouth.

“Oh God Katie..” he groaned as he held onto the wall with one hand to steady himself and the other grabbed a fistful of her wet hair as he closed his eyes in ecstasy. “Okay you win,” he managed to get out between ragged breaths as a shudder passed through him and he knew he was going to lose it very, very soon.

She got up with a satisfied smile on her face which urged him on as he quipped “But you do know what they say about payback,” as he grabbed her and pulled her against him, their bodies slick with the water against each other. His long slender fingers zeroed in on where she needed his touch the most, eliciting a moan from her.

“Harry.. “ she murmured his name huskily as his other hand caressed her breast and she was powerless to fight the sensual onslaught of his touch. He knew her too well.

When neither of them could take any more he picked her up and as he held her against the wall, the water pouring down on them, their bodies finally joined as they expressed their love for each other the best way they knew how. As they found their release together, both of them felt at that moment the hurt and the anger they had been feeling previously being washed away.

As they came back down to earth Kate leant her head against Harry’s chest, running her fingers through the damp hair as  he turned the taps off. “Thanks for letting me in,” she said with a grin as he grinned back at her, neither of them thinking when she’d come to his door earlier that the night would end like this.

“Oh trust me Katie, the pleasure’s all mine,” he quipped with a devilish wiggle of his eyebrows as he held her to him.

“Not all of it,” she replied cheekily as he kissed her with a smile.

                                *********************************

Kate awoke the next morning in Harry’s bed, still wrapped in his arms. A smile crossed her face as she nestled into his familiar warmth, and she remembered the previous night. Her memory skipped over the awful fight they’d had, preferring not to think about that, instead recalling when they had talked & made up. And then she remembered what had happened between them in the shower   afterwards  - oh my, now that was a memory, she thought to herself with a quiet chuckle. As she replayed that in her head a realisation suddenly struck her like a lightning bolt – they’d been so carried away they’d forgotten to use any protection. Oh God, she thought desperately to herself, wondering if there could be a possibility she could be pregnant. She did some calculations in her head, trying to work out where she was in her cycle. She thought it would probably be okay but she wasn’t 100 percent sure. How could I have been so stupid, she admonished herself.

As these thoughts swam through her head she looked at Harry still asleep next to her. Except for the morning stubble on his face he looked just like a little boy when he was asleep – innocent & vulnerable, and she wondered for a moment what it would be like to have his child. A little boy perhaps, with dark hair and blue eyes just like his daddy. She smiled at the thought as she tenderly brushed a stray lock of hair off his forehead. Well maybe one day, she thought to herself. But what if it’s now? a niggling worry entered her head again. They were still so young – she didn’t think either of them were really ready for that yet. And with her music career just starting off it was hardly ideal timing.

With these troubling thoughts in her head she got up and quickly dressed, then went and made herself a cup of tea. Harry woke not long after, stretching his long, lean frame & reaching out to pull her to him, expecting to find her next to him in the bed. When he didn’t, his eyes shot open as an awful thought sprang into his head - had she had second thoughts after their fight last night and decided to leave him after all?

He sprang out of bed and pulled on some pants, calling her name as he did so. “I’m out here,” she replied as he breathed a sigh of relief and walked out to the living room, to find her standing looking out the window, lost in her thoughts as she nursed a cup of tea.

”Hey, for a moment I thought…” he said as he came up to her, but he stopped himself.

“Thought what?” she asked as she put the cup down and turned to face him.

“Nothing.. it doesn’t matter,” he reassured her with a grin. He then caught the flicker of something in her eyes – worry perhaps, he thought to himself? “Katie – what’s wrong?” he asked, hoping his initial thoughts upon waking weren’t correct.

Kate sighed and rubbed her forehead, “Harry, last night when we were in the shower..” she started as he grinned cheekily at her and his left eyebrow went up mischievously.

“Remember it well,” he quipped and despite herself she smiled too.

“Yes well we forgot something,” she finished, looking at him seriously. He looked at her puzzled for a moment and then it dawned on him - they’d forgotten to use protection. He swore under his breath – how could he have forgotten that? he thought desperately.

“Oh Katie I’m sorry, I should have remembered. I guess I just got a bit carried away,” Harry apologised sincerely. Kate shook her head. “You don’t have to apologise Harry – I forgot too you know. I guess we both got a bit carried away,” Kate admitted.

“Do you think something might have happened? Is there a possibility you might be..?” he couldn’t bring himself to say the word ‘pregnant’.

Kate focused her gaze on the ground. “I don’t know – I think we’re okay but I’m not sure. Guess we’ll know in a week or so,” she replied, giving him a meaningful look as tears sprung to her eyes.

“Katie don’t worry. If you are we’ll handle it together okay? I got you into this and I’m not about to turn my back on my responsibilities,” Harry reassured her as he took her into his arms. Although he tried to sound confident, inside he was feeling as scared as Kate was. A child? At his age? He was barely eighteen. He didn’t know the first thing about being a father, seeing as he’d never known his own. He wondered how good a father he’d be, but one thing he was sure of – he wouldn’t do what his own father had done and abandon his child.

Kate nodded against his chest as her worried tears flowed down her cheeks. “Hey c’mere – it’s okay,” he comforted her, his voice soft and gentle, as he ran a hand through her hair and kissed the top of her head. “Let’s not worry about it until we know for sure eh? And if it turns out that’s the case, well then we’ll deal with it together. I mean I guess the timing’s not ideal but I reckon you’d make a great mum,” he said with a smile. “Look how well you keep me in line eh?” he laughed, trying to lighten the moment a bit.

She smiled at him through her tears. “Try to,” she replied with a laugh of her own. “Well I think you’d make a great dad,” she added as he looked a bit surprised.

“Oh I don’t know,” he said ruefully as he shook his head, doubting himself. “Not knowing my own, I don’t know the first thing about how to be a dad,’ he confessed.

“Well don’t forget I’m in the same boat - I never knew my mum or dad either,” Kate reminded him. “All I know is we wouldn’t repeat the same mistakes our parents made. I would never give up a child of mine.. of ours,” she said determinedly as she gave him a meaningful look. Harry nodded and enveloped her in his arms, both of them wondering what the future may hold..


	15. Chapter 15

Both Harry & Kate were relieved when their worries about an unplanned pregnancy did not eventuate. Harry had to admit the idea of becoming a father at such a young age had scared him on the one hand, but on the other hand he also found the idea kind of appealing. He wasn’t sure whether it was because he’d never really known his own family but the idea of having a family of his own didn’t seem half bad. But way in the future he thought to himself, not knowing that his and Kate’s futures were about to be threatened in more ways than one.

Harry was on his way to the boarding house where Kate was staying one day when he noticed fire engines screaming down the street. As he got closer to the street where the boarding house was located he noticed people running down the street. “What’s going on?” he asked a guy as he ran past him.

“The boarding house on Kent Street – it’s on fire,” he replied as fear suddenly clenched Harry’s heart.

“Katie!” her name escaped his lips as he bolted the rest of the way to the boarding house.

When he got there he found fire engines, ambulances & police cars surrounding the building which was well alight with thick black smoke pouring out of it.He looked around desperately for Kate and when he couldn’t see her anywhere outside he went to run up to the building. “Hold it right there mate  - no-one’s allowed past this point,” a police officer stepped in front of him, blocking his way,  as a panicked, frustrated look crossed Harry’s face.

“But my girlfriend could be in there,” he protested as he desperately tried to get past.

“Look if she is the firefighters will find her – but you’re not going in there,” the police officer repeated adamantly.

“Like hell I’m not,” Harry replied determinedly as quick as a flash he weaved past the policeman and dashed into the burning building as the police man yelled after him.

“Kate!” he yelled desperately as he fought his way through the thick smoke heading towards the stairs to the first floor. When there was no reply, he yelled again, starting to panic. “Katie where are you?” He stopped momentarily to see if he could hear anything over the roar of the flames.  Then he heard her voice.

“Harry!” Kate yelled back to him. “Harry I’m up here – I need help!” he heard her as he dashed up the stairs two at a time, worried she was hurt. He found her at the end of the hall, trying to pick up the old lady who ran the place who had collapsed from the smoke.

“Oh Katie – thank God you’re okay!” he exclaimed with relief as he hugged her to him.  “Why are you still in here? You should have got yourself out,” he reprimanded her.

“I know, I know,” Kate replied ruefully with a cough, “ but then I realised Mrs Smith was still in her room – I managed to get the door open and found she’d collapsed but I couldn’t lift her,” she explained. With that Harry lifted the old woman into his arms and looked at Kate. “We’ve got to get out of here Katie – this place is gonna go any minute,” he stated seriously as she nodded.

As they moved down the hall Harry noticed Kate was limping. “Kate – you’re hurt!” he said with alarm.

“It’s nothing Harry - I’m okay. I couldn’t see to pick the lock to Mrs Smith’s room with all the smoke so I ah kicked the door down,” she replied as he shook his head in amazement.

“You kicked the door down?” he asked increduously, wondering how she’d managed to do that given her rather petite build, but then he knew how determined she could be too. She managed to smile at him despite the dangerous situation they were in. As they made their way down the smoke filled hall they passed her room and she suddenly dashed inside.

“Katie – where are you going? We’ve got to get out of here!” Harry yelled in alarm.

“I’ve got to get my guitar Harry,” she yelled back as she quickly grabbed it and a few other treasured possessions that she threw in the case then ran back out of the room as well as she could on her injured foot.

As they continued their way down the hall towards the stairs, the two of them coughing in the thick smoke and struggling to see, Kate noticed the ceiling above them was on fire. “Harry look out!” she screamed as she grabbed him and pulled him back just in time as a burning beam fell in front of them.

“Thanks!” he exclaimed gratefully.

“What are we going to do now? We can’t get through that way,” he added worriedly as Kate thought.

“Quick – there’s another set of stairs at the back of the building – remember I snuck you down them one morning before she caught you in my room,” she said as she nodded towards the old woman he held in his arms.

“Ah yes how could I forget – as I recall I was still pulling my jeans on”, he quipped trying to lighten the moment a bit but they were both as scared as hell. Trying to put on a brave front Kate shot him a grin as they moved as quickly as they could to the back of the building.

They found the door to the stairs locked as Kate struggled with it. Harry put Mrs Smith down for a  moment and took his jacket off & wrapped it around his hand. “Stand back Katie,” he instructed as he smashed the glass pane in the door then reached through and turned the lock, opening the door. As they pushed it open they both took a gulp of fresh air as Harry picked up Mrs Smith again and he and Kate carefully made their way down the stairs.

“Here take her -  she’s collapsed,” he told a fireman who rushed up to them and as he handed her to him , a photographer from the local paper took a photo of him. “Thanks son – you two better get yourselves checked out,” the firefighter thanked him as he nodded towards an ambulance.

Kate went to hop over to it but Harry scooped her up in his arms. “Harry I’m ok,” she protested but he shook his head.

“For once will you stop being so stubborn O’Casey and let me take care of you,” he replied rather sternly as Kate conceded – she had to admit now she had time to think about it, her foot was killing her. He carried her over to the ambulance. “Here – she’s hurt her foot. And inhaled quite a bit of smoke too,” he told the ambulance officer as he handed her over.

“Thanks mate  - we’ll take a look at her. Now how about you sit down too so we can take a look at you,” the ambulance officer stated but Harry waved him off.

“I’m okay – just look after her,” he replied as Kate looked at him and shook her head.

“Harry – you’re hurt. Your arm’s bleeding,” she pointed out in alarm. He then realised he had cut his arm a bit when he punched the pane of glass out – in their rush and the adrenaline he’d had surging through him as they escaped the burning building he hadn’t noticed.

Once he was certain Kate was okay he let the ambulance officers treat him. As they were bandaging his arm and tending to some singes on his face the photographer who had taken his photo came up to him. “That was some rescue mate – what’s your name?” he asked.

“Thanks – my name’s Harry,” he replied absently as his eyes were on Kate as the ambulance officer treating her finished bandaging her foot. Once the ambulance officers were finished with the two of them Harry walked over to Kate.

“You two really should get checked out in the hospital,” the ambulance officer said.

“We’re okay,” Kate reassured him.

“Okay suit yourselves – but if you have any trouble breathing take yourself straight to the hospital hey?” They both nodded as the ambulance officer gave Kate some crutches. “Here these might help – stay off that foot as much as you can. I don’t think it’s broken but it’s going to be painful for a while. But if it’s not getting better get it checked out hey? You two were very lucky you know,” he stated seriously as they both nodded.

The two of them sat there for a moment as Harry put an arm around her. “I thought I’d lost you Katie – don’t ever scare me like that again,” he said seriously as he looked at her intently and she noticed the faint glimmer of tears in his eyes. _S_ he had never seen him in tears before.

“I won’t,” she reassured him with a smile.

“Thank you for coming to my rescue – and Mrs Smith’s,’ she added sincerely. “You’re a hero you know,” she said as he grinned and she kissed him, wiping a bit of soot off his face.

“Well I don’t know about that..” he went to protest modestly but Kate cut him off.  “Well I do – running into a burning building like that, saving two people’s lives,” she added as he looked a little embarrassed.

“Anyone would have done the same thing,” he replied as Kate shook her head.

“No they wouldn’t have – not everyone. You’re a good guy Harry,” Kate stated with a smile, her eyes shining with love & gratitude.

“Well what about you – kicking a bloody door down for God’s sake?! How did you manage to do that?” he replied with a laugh as Kate smiled ruefully.

”I have no idea,” she admitted with  laugh of her own as he pulled her close and planted a kiss on top of her head, the two of them realising how close they had come to losing each other.

“Now how about I take you back to Daniel’s and you can have a shower & get cleaned up eh? “ Harry suggested.

At that Kate shook her head. “Not if Daniel’s there,” she replied adamantly as she was loathe to spend any time in the company of Harry’s ‘mentor’ after an earlier conversation they’d had which had been quite confrontational. At that Harry sighed a little and ran a hand through his hair, knowing there was little love lost between the two of them which pained him as they were the two most important people in his life.

“Look O’Casey will you stop being so bloody stubborn – where are you going to go? Why don’t you stay with me at Daniel’s for a few days till you can find a place to stay?  I know you and Daniel don’t exactly see eye to eye but..” he went to argue.

“That’s putting it mildly,” Kate muttered. “And I’ll find somewhere to go – I’d rather sleep on the streets than stay at Daniel’s ,” she added determinedly even though she really didn’t know where she was going to go.

Harry knew it was pointless to argue with her once she’d made her mind up about something. “Okay, okay,” he relented. “Look I’m pretty sure he won’t be there at the moment so at least come with me and freshen up eh?”

Kate somewhat reluctantly agreed as she was keen to get out of her clothes that reeked of smoke and have a shower to get the soot and smell of smoke off her. Harry managed to hail a cab for them and helped Kate hop over to it on her crutches. Both of them were a little relieved to find Daniel’s place empty. Harry helped Kate into the bathroom then left her to shower and then when she was finished he jumped in.

Freshly showered & changed, Harry came out of the bathroom to find Kate sitting on the lounge rubbing her neck. “Here, let me do that for you Katie,” he offered as he sat down beside her, his long slender fingers going to work massaging her neck.

“You’re pretty tense Katie – just try and relax eh?” he murmured gently as he continued kneading the knots in her neck. Kate closed her eyes as she felt herself relaxing under his touch. “Oh that feels good Harry – you’re certainly good with your hands,” she sighed with a smile as a lopsided grin crossed Harry’s face.

“Well you should know Katie,” he quipped as she laughed and he started planting little kisses on her neck. “Oh that I do,” she replied with a cheeky grin of her own as she pulled his face round to hers and kissed him.

When they finally drew apart Harry rested his forehead on hers. “I could have lost you today Katie,” he whispered, his voice choked with emotion. A

t that Kate smiled at him and tenderly cupped one of his cheeks in her hand. “But you didn’t. I’m not going anywhere Harry,” she reassured him as she kissed him again, the two of them soon lost in each other, as they expressed their love for each other and their relief that they were both okay, in the best way they knew how.

Engrossed in each other as they were they didn’t notice the door open and Daniel walk in. He was none too happy to find his young protégé with ‘that girl’ again.

“Oh at it again are we? How surprising,” he muttered sarcastically as they reluctantly drew apart, Kate sighing with frustration & anger.

"We ah… we were just about to leave actually,” Harry replied a little hurriedly as Kate nodded in confirmation.

“Oh don’t leave on my account,” Daniel stated as he forced a smile onto his face. “So lovely to see you again Kate,” he said with false sincerity as she gave him a filthy look and threw back at him, “I’d say the same Daniel but unlike you I’m not a liar,” as Daniel glared at her.

Sensing the situation was getting a bit tense Harry was keen to get Kate out of there.

“I’ll ah just go and get my jacket then we can get going Katie,” he said rather awkwardly as he disappeared into his bedroom briefly.

“Oh Kate my dear girl, you have a lot to learn,” Daniel stated in a patronising tone as he looked at her & shook his head.

“About what Daniel? And I’m not ‘your dear girl’,” she replied angrily.

“About Harry – I mean it’s obvious what he’s interested in and it’s not your ‘charming’ personality,” he retorted sarcastically as he nodded towards her cleavage just as Harry walked back into the room.

“Why you old…” Kate went to reply, her expression furious but Harry cut her off, his own face clouded with an angry frown.

“That’s enough Daniel!” he rebuked him as Daniel looked at him with surprise. “I thought I told you before – mine & Kate’s relationship is none of your damn business. And she could have lost her life earlier today so the last thing she needs right now is your sarcastic comments!” he sprung to her defence.  At that Daniel looked even more shocked.

“C’mon Katie let’s get out of here” he added as he handed her the crutches and helped her up then grabbed her stuff for her.

“Gladly,” Kate replied as she shot Daniel another dirty look.

“What on earth happened?’ Daniel asked, momentarily taken aback by Harry’s revelation and the sight of Kate on crutches. When Kate didn’t elaborate Harry explained, “There was a fire at the boarding house where Kate’s been staying and she hurt her foot kicking down a door to save the old lady who ran the place.”

Daniel looked at Kate with both shock & amazement, realising a little that there was more to this young girl than met the eye, not that he would ever admit it to her. She had an inner strength & determination that he could see Harry was attracted to but that he also knew meant he was in for a battle over Harry that she was not going to give up easily. Not really knowing what to say Daniel said, “I’m sorry to hear that,” but Kate, doubting his sincerity and still smarting from his earlier comments retorted angrily, “Save it Daniel - I don’t need your pity. In fact I don’t need anything from you,” her green eyes flashing angrily as she made her way out the door as fast as she could on the crutches, Harry not far behind her.

 “So where are you going to go Katie?” Harry asked with concern when they got outside.

“I have no idea,” Kate confessed ruefully as tears suddenly sprung to her eyes as it suddenly hit her that she was effectively homeless.

“Hey c’mon it’s okay,” Harry comforted her as he took her into his arms. “I know a place where we can go,” he added as she looked at him when he said ‘we’. 

“Harry I’m the one who’s homeless, not you. You’ve got a roof over your head if you want it,” she commented as she nodded towards Daniel’s place.

“My place is with you O’Casey – you don’t think I’m going to leave you to fend for yourself on the streets are you?” he reassured her with a smile as she smiled gratefully at him.

They made their way down a few blocks to a mostly industrial area. When they reached an old abandoned warehouse Harry picked the rusty lock on the door and carefully pushed it open. “What is this place?” Kate asked as she hobbled in on her crutches after him.  At that a slightly nostalgic look crossed Harry’s face.

“I used to kip here sometimes, years ago, before I met Daniel. I snuck in one night not long after I’d arrived from Dublin – it’s nothing fancy but it was warm & dry,” he stated with a rueful grin. He pushed open the door of a little office and the memories came flooding back to him of that scared, lonely little boy he’d once been, sheltering in there trying to keep safe & warm.

Kate looked at the expression on his face, trying to imagine him as a young boy fending for himself on the streets and calling this place home. “Oh Harry – that must have been tough,” she sympathised as she put a hand on his arm.

“Oh it wasn’t so bad,” he tried to brush it off. “I could do what I wanted, when I wanted. But.. I must admit it was a bit lonely and scarey at times,” he confessed as Kate nodded understandingly.

“Anyway enough of my trip down memory lane – let’s get you settled eh?” Harry went on, keen to change the subject, as he helped Kate onto the small, worn lounge in the office. She sat down and then moved as she realised something was sticking into her.

“I’m sitting on something,” she said as Harry looked at her, wondering what was wrong as she reached underneath to find it. To her surprise she pulled out a little toy car, worn with age, from between the cushions.

“What on earth..?” Kate said as she held it up.

As Harry spied it a smile crossed his face. “That’s mine – I thought I’d lost it forever,” he said like an excited little boy as she handed it to him.

Kate watched him as he turned it over in his hands then put it in his jacket pocket for safe keeping. “It was one of the few things I brought with me when I came over from Dublin – I used to while away the hours with it when I was here by myself,” he explained, his voice cracking a little with emotion. “Then one day I misplaced it and I thought it was gone forever – it must have slipped down between the cushions.”

Kate looked at him then patted the space on the lounge next to her. “Come here,” she whispered as he did as she asked and she held him to her, not saying a word, knowing they didn’t need them. He buried his face in her shoulder, not wanting her to see his tears as his memories overwhelmed him for a moment. The fear, the loneliness, the feeling of never belonging anywhere or to anyone, and as Kate ran a comforting hand over his head he knew she understood.

******************************************

The next day Harry dropped round to Daniel's to pick something up. He found Daniel reading the newspaper, a less than happy look on his face as he regarded his young protege. "Looks like your heroics yesterday made the papers Harry," Daniel stated as he handed him the paper.

A boyish grin crossed Harry's face. "Really?" he asked, a little excited, as he read the article and looked at the picture of himself with the caption underneath, "Young hero known only as Harry saves woman from burning building." His grin got a bit broader as he commented cheekily, "Wow, will you look at that - I look quite good. 'Young hero' eh? I quite like the sound of that."

Daniel rolled his eyes at him. "Yes well while I agree that was rather heroic of you my boy, getting your picture in the paper is not such a great idea in our line of work. I'm sure you realise the merits of not being recognisable and staying out of the limelight Harry," he pointed out.

"Yes but Daniel..," Harry went to protest, thinking to himself that he could get used to having his picture in the paper. And being called a hero was rather appealing too, he mused.

"No buts Harry - the less attention you draw to yourself the better. For both our sakes," Daniel stated in a tone that let Harry now that no further arguments would be entertained. Harry nodded with a slight pout, knowing that Daniel had a point but he still wasn't entirely happy about it. 

 

 


	16. Chapter 16

After learning she was now effectively homeless Miles arranged for Kate to move into a little flat he owned as an investment property. It was fully furnished too so she didn’t have to worry about buying furniture. Harry helped her move in the few things she owned that she’d managed to salvage from the fire. “Wow – this isn’t bad O’Casey,” he commented with a grin as he flopped down on the double bed, stretching out his long, lean frame.

“Yeah it’s nice - got everything I need,” Kate agreed while she hung up some clothes in the wardrobe.

With a devilish grin Harry quipped as he looked at her, “Speaking of things you need,” as he patted the spot next to him on the bed and winked at her.

At that Kate shook her head and grinned back at him. “You’ve got a one track mind Harry,” she laughed as she joined him on the bed nevertheless.

“Oh c’mon Katie – we’ve got to christen this double bed eh? Much better than my little single one at Daniel’s or that one you had at the boarding house,” he pointed out as he brought his lips to hers. “True ,” she agreed.

“Although they were kind of cosy,” she added, giving him a meaningful look.

“Oh you like cosy eh?” he chuckled as he pulled her closer to him.

“Yeah I do - our bodies pressed against each other, those strong arms of yours wrapped around me..,” Kate murmured as she kissed him back, running a hand up and down one of his arms.

“How’s this for cosy?” he whispered against her lips as he covered her body with his. “Oh I think that will do nicely,” Kate replied with a cheeky grin as she kissed him again, pulling him down to her and running her hands through his hair.

“Remind me to thank Miles for giving you this place next time I see him,” Harry quipped in between kisses.

“See he’s not so bad after all,” Kate replied, knowing Harry & her manager/record producer didn’t exactly see eye to eye.

“If you say so. Now how about we stop talking about him and concentrate on here and now,” Harry stated as he begun unbuttoning her blouse and they were soon oblivious to anything else but each other…

Afterwards as they lay in each other’s arms Kate said, “You know I should have a housewarming party  - invite the gang around and maybe the guys from the band. That might be fun,” as Harry nodded in agreement.

The next Saturday night it didn’t take long for the party to kick off with their group of friends as well as Kate’s bandmates and a few other people who had managed to tag along. Before too long Kate’s little flat was packed to the rafters with people eating, drinking, dancing to the loud music they had playing, as well as amusing themselves in other ways, something Harry was quite keen to do all evening as he watched Kate, dressed in tight fitting black jeans and an even tighter low cut silver, spangly top that he couldn’t tear his eyes away from. Every time he tried to grab her attention though, someone would start chatting to her or she’d disappear into the kitchen to grab some more food for the guests or one of his mates would start chatting to him.

His frustration getting the better of him a little, he spied his chance as he saw her go into the kitchen again. “Oh hi Harry,’ she greeted him with her grin that turned him on each time he saw it. “Great party huh?” she added as he nodded moving closer to her.

“Yeah it is,” he agreed, “except for one thing.”

“Oh, what’s that?”

“We’ve barely been able to spend anytime alone together,” he pointed out as a slight pout crossed his face which he knew she found hard to resist. With that he pulled her into his arms and started kissing her as she readily responded to him. After they’d been kissing for a while though Kate reluctantly drew away from him. In reply to his questioning, rather disappointed look she said, “I’ve got guests to take care of Harry,” as she nodded towards the tray of food she was about to take back out to the party.

“How about you take care of me eh?” Harry countered with a mischievous grin as he went to pull her back into his arms. “Oh I’ll take care of you Harry, don’t you worry,” Kate replied with a promising look as his grin got wider.

“Yeah when?” he asked as he went to kiss her again.

“Later,” she replied with a wink as she planted a quick kiss on his lips then deftly skipped out of his arms & went back to the party, leaving Harry both excited and more than a little frustrated. He followed her out, deciding he wasn’t prepared to wait till later.

His plans were temporarily thwarted though when his mate Freddy clapped him round the shoulder. “Harry my man, we need you to resolve a dispute between Chalkie & myself as to whether Man U or Liverpool are going to win the FA cup this year,” as he steered Harry towards the lounge. Harry somewhat reluctantly sat down between his two friends, trying to concentrate on football when his attention was very much focused elsewhere. He couldn’t help the smile that crossed his face as he watched his Katie being the perfect hostess and the life & soul of the party, as she chatted & laughed with their other friends and her bandmates. Every so often she would catch him looking at her and flash him what he affectionately called the ‘O’Casey grin’, which always did something to him he couldn’t quite explain.

“Harry, what do you reckon?” Chalkie’s insistent voice suddenly brought him back to their conversation.

“Huh.. what?” he replied somewhat distractedly as he hadn’t been paying attention. At that Freddy rolled his eyes and laughed as he saw where Harry’s gaze was focused. “You’re hopeless mate – why don’t you just go shag her & get on with it so you can focus properly on this important issue.” At that a grin crossed Harry’s face as the same time as a frown crossed Chalkie’s, who unbeknowns to the other two guys had quite the crush on Kate. Kate however, much to Chalkie’s dismay, only had eyes for Harry. “I’ve been trying to do that all night mate,” Harry shot back with a laugh as he winked devilishly at them.

Just then Kate happened to walk past. Seeing his chance Harry reached out a long arm & grabbed her, pulling her onto his lap. “C’mere woman,” he growled with a laugh, burying his face in her neck.

“Harry! Steady tiger!” she exclaimed with a laugh of her own, in a half-hearted protest.

“What? I’m just trying to spend some time with my girl,” he replied as he gave her a meaningful look and as he shifted a little underneath her she realised his intentions as she felt his hard length against her. Not being able to resist him and the effect he had on her (which was the same as she had on him) she kissed him as Chalkie looked rather uncomfortable and Freddy laughed. “Taking my advice there hey Harry?” as he nudged him.

“And what advice is that?” Kate asked with a laugh as she finally pulled her mouth away from Harry’s. With that Harry whispered something in her ear, as he ran a hand along her leg and flashed her a grin. “Sounds like fun,” Kate replied with a grin of her own but just as she went to kiss him again, two of her friends who were rather drunk came & pulled her off him,

“C’mon Kate, come & dance – you love this song! You can make out with Harry anytime,” Trish giggled as Kate gave Harry an apologetic look as she was pulled away by the two girls, disappearing into the horde of people packed into the living room.

Harry sighed with frustration, cursing a little under his breath. “Looks like you’re gonna have to wait Harry,” Freddy commiserated as he patted him sympathetically on the shoulder and handed him a beer. “Here drown your sorrows mate.”

“Bugger waiting,” Harry replied determinedly as he took a swig of beer then still holding the bottle, he got up and started making his way through the crowd. He wanted her and he wanted her now. He spied her dancing in the middle of the crowd and a mischievous grin crossed his face as he came up behind her and snaked a hand around her waist and started moving with her in time to the music.

A smile crossed Kate’s face as she felt his familiar touch. She never tired of feeling his hands on her body. “Wondered how long it would take you,” she chuckled as she covered his hand with one of her own and leant back against him, moving her body against him in a way that left him groaning. In response he ran a hand up her side over the top she was wearing, from her waist to skim the underside of her breast, and as he did so he realised she wasn’t wearing a bra. A boyish grin crossed his face as he looked at her with some surprise. “Forgot to put something on did we?” he chuckled into her ear as his hand travelled a bit higher.

At that a cheeky grin crossed Kate’s face as well. “No I didn’t forget anything. A bra doesn’t really go with this top and plus I thought you might prefer it if I went without,” she replied as Harry swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded.

“You thought right,” he whispered in her ear and then added, “I want you _A mhhuirnin,”’_ using the Gaelic term for ‘darling’, knowing how much she loved it when he called her that. As if to prove his point he pressed himself against her and tightened his arm around her.

“So I noticed,” she quipped cheekily as she reached up to caress his cheek. 

Just then the song playing changed to Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love” and Harry breathed in Kate’s ear with a chuckle, “They’re playing our song baby,” as he started singing softly in her ear and continued moving against her, “I’m gonna give you my love, I’m gonna give you every inch of my love.”

She then turned around to face him, a grin crossing her face as she raised an eyebrow at him.  She linked her arms around his neck and then grabbing the bottle of beer out of his hand she took a swig then smacked her lips rather suggestively as she handed the bottle back to him, not before running a hand up the neck of the bottle, knowing full well what that would do to him as her eyes kept his captive. He cocked an eyebrow at her in response to her cheeky gesture. “Oh Katie you are driving me crazy girl,” he confessed with a lopsided grin as he struggled to keep his eyes on her face rather than on her unencumbered cleavage. “How about we sneak off to your bedroom for a little while eh? No-one ‘ll notice if we’re missing for a bit” he suggested, his blue eyes smouldering at her, knowing he couldn’t wait any longer. Kate smiled a little ruefully at him, wanting him as much as he wanted her but wondering how on earth they were going to manage to do that.

“How do you suggest we do that Harry?” she asked with a laugh as he wiggled his eyebrows mischievously at her and replied, “Like this.”

With that he grabbed her by the hand and led her through the crowd in one determined direction.  “Here Chalkie – have this,” Harry said as he handed his beer bottle to his friend who looked at him a bit puzzled as he thanked him nonetheless, all the while wishing it was something else Harry had that he was giving him as he tried not ogle Kate.

“You better put your tongue back in your mouth Chalkie and stop drooling over Kate before Harry catches you,” Trish commented as she observed him and he looked momentarily embarrassed then stalked off.

Meanwhile Harry and Kate had reached her bedroom door. He turned around, his back to the door then surreptitiously opened it and slipped inside, pulling her in after him, the two of them trying not to laugh. As soon as they were inside they grabbed each other, both of them not wanting to waste any more time and knowing they had better be quick before their absence became too obvious. As Harry’s mouth found hers, Kate tugged his royal blue t-shirt over his head and tossed it aside as he did the same to her top, a smile crossing his face as he took it off her and laid his eyes and hands on her.

She ran her hands through the hair on his chest as they fell back on the bed together then her hands travelled over his stomach to his belt buckle. A little impatiently he undid the button and zip of her jeans and tugged them off. Before too long they were both naked, Kate pulling Harry to her as his kisses trailed down her neck and lower and she ran her hands through his hair.

Just as his hand started to arouse her the bedroom door opened and a rather inebriated Chalkie stumbled in, saying “Hey you two is there any more grog?” and then as he looked he realised they were both naked, seeing more of Harry then he had ever wanted to and not enough of Kate he thought, as Harry covered her body with his own, not wanting another guy to see her like that.

‘Bugger off Chalkie we’re busy here!” Harry snapped at him as he turned his head slightly to glare at him.

“Oh.. um…sorry.. didn’t mean to interrupt.. I’ll ah leave you to it then shall I?” Chalkie stammered in a rather embarrassed fashion but remained standing there for a moment or two, a grin crossing his face as he tried to spy a bit more of Kate’s naked body.

“Clear off Chalkie,” she yelled at him as she reached down and picked up a shoe and threw it at him.

“Okay, okay I’m going – settle down,” he replied hurriedly as he made a hasty exit, closing the door behind him.

He bumped into Trish in his haste to get out of there. “Hey Chalkie watch where you’re going!” she exclaimed as he mumbled an apology, “You haven’t seen Kate & Harry have you?” she then asked and was somewhat puzzled by the look that crossed his face.

“Oh yeah, especially Harry – I just saw more of him than I ever wanted to,” he muttered ruefully. In reply to Trish’s questioning look he explained hurriedly, “I just accidentally walked in on them in Kate’s bedroom - they were both buck naked…ah getting down to business as it were,” as Trish tried not to laugh, imagining Kate & Harry’s reaction to Chalkie walking in on them.

Meanwhile…“Now .. where were we?” Harry quipped with a grin.

“About here I think,” Kate replied with a cheeky grin of her own as she grabbed his hand and put it where she needed it to be.

Harry chuckled as he kissed her hard then, his eyes holding hers captive, he murmured, “What do you want Katie?”

A mischievous gleam lit up her green eyes as she replied, “I want you to..” and finished the sentence with a whisper in his ear as his eyes almost popped out of his head at the language she used .

“Katie! Did you just say what I thought you said?” he exclaimed with a surprised, but nevertheless excited look on his face.

She nodded and laughed, “Well you asked.”

Grinning & shaking his head a little at her boldness he replied, “That I did. Oh I love it when you talk dirty baby,” as he went to do what she had rather graphically requested, but she suddenly held him off a bit, taking him by surprise. In reply to his confused look she said “Aren’t you forgetting something?” as she nodded southwards.

Harry sighed in frustration at the second ‘interruption’, realising what she was getting at. “Oh c’mon Katie you’re not going to stop me now are you? You’re killing me here you know. How about we just play a bit of Russian Roulette eh? I mean we dodged a bullet before..” he tried to convince her as he was very reluctant to put a halt to things, given how close he was to going over the edge.

“Yeah well I’ll be the one left carrying the bullet won’t I?” Kate replied firmly as she gave him a meaningful look and reached into her bedside drawer and grabbed one of the little foil packets in there and handed it to him.

“Okay, okay,” he relented as he did as she asked. Before they had a chance to be interrupted again he entered her, pulling her hips up to meet his. As she moved with him, Harry let himself go with Kate following him over the edge not long after. As he hit the peak he couldn’t help muttering a few expletives, as he was yet again overwhelmed by the way she made him feel.

After both coming back down to earth Harry lifted his head to look at her. “Bloody hell Katie! You sure know how to get me there don’t you?” he chuckled a little, his breathing still fast as a satisfied smile crossed his face.

“Well look who’s talking – takes one to know one Harry,” Kate replied with a smile of her own as she brushed a stray lock of hair off his face, then reluctantly added. “I suppose we better get back to the party before anyone notices we’re gone.” Harry nodded somewhat reluctantly as well as they quickly got dressed then re-emerged from her room.

“And just where have you two been?” their friend Trish asked them with a laugh as she spied them.

“I ah.. just needed to get something in my room,” Kate offered as an explanation as Harry nodded, adding,“Yeah and I was helping her.”

Trish looked at them both sceptically – knowing the two of them as she did, she didn’t believe that for a second. “Oh I’m sure you got something Kate and I’m sure you helped her get it Harry,” she replied with a laugh as she winked at them then added, “Ah.. Chalkie told me he walked in on you two,” as both Harry & Kate looked momentarily embarrassed but then couldn’t help the grins that were spreading across their faces. “Ah Harry mate, you might want to do up your fly – that’s a bit of a dead giveaway,” Freddie said with a laugh as he came up to them as well and Kate couldn’t help but laugh at the look on Harry’s face as he quickly rectified that situation.

They rejoined the party which was in full swing and then after a while Kate heard a loud knock on the door, “Open up - this is the police.” Both she & Harry swore under their breath and Chalkie quickly hid, not keen to have the local constabulary see him, given his frequent run-ins with the law. Kate quickly turned down the music and told everyone to keep quiet then opened the door, forcing a smile onto her face and trying to appear as sober as she could.

“Evening miss – is this your place and your party?” one of the two uniformed constables who stood there asked her in a stern voice.

“Ah yes it is officer,” she replied a bit sheepishly.

“Is there a problem officers?” Harry asked as he came and stood next to her.

“We’ve had a complaint about the noise,” the other constable informed the two teenagers standing in front of him then added as he looked at the young girl, “Where are your parents?”.

At that a rueful half smile crossed Kate’s face. “Your guess is as good as mine officer. I don’t have any,” she explained as he looked back & forth between her & the young man standing next to her who looked vaguely familiar. “Do I know you from somewhere?” he asked Harry as he narrowed his eyes at him and Harry looked decidedly uncomfortable for a moment then forced a charming grin onto his face.

“No I don’t think so,” he replied hurriedly as Kate shot him a worried glance then she said to the policemen in an effort to get rid of them,

“Look I’m really sorry officers – we didn’t realise it was that loud. We’ll keep it turned down – I promise. And this is my flat, well I’m renting it from a gentleman by the name of Miles Walker – I can give you his number if you need to verify that.”

“Miles Walker – the record producer?” one of the police officers asked as Kate nodded. At that Ronnie, the lead guitarist from Kate’s band came up to them as well.

“The one and only – he’s our record producer and manager. I don’t know if you’ve heard of us but we’re KK and the Beat – our first single’s just hit the charts. And this is KK herself,” Ronnie explained as Kate looked at him gratefully.

“Really?” the younger constable replied as he looked a little starstruck and then he looked at Kate a little more closely and realised he’d seen her picture in the paper not so long ago. “Well I’ll be damned,” he added with a smile. “I ah.. couldn’t get your autograph could I Miss Kelly?” he asked with a nervous smile as he handed over his notepad and pen.

“No problem,” Kate replied, flashing him the ‘O’Casey grin’ as Harry called it then added “And please - call me Kate.”

The officer smiled back and thanked her then said, “Well I know how it is with you rock and roll types and your wild parties hey? I guess we can overlook it this time but just try and keep the noise down okay?” he relented as Kate nodded.

“Oh we will - thankyou for being so understanding officers,” as they went on their way and she closed the door after them and they all breathed a sigh of relief.

Eventually the party began to wind down and people started to leave. Kate began cleaning up a bit but Harry grabbed her and pulled her into his arms saying, “We can clean up in the morning Katie – there’s so many other more interesting things we could be doing,” as he raised an eyebrow at her and a lopsided grin crossed his face.

Kate laughed and said, “I thought we already did some ‘interesting things’,” as she gave him a meaningful look.

“Ah that was hours ago,” he quipped as he scooped her up into his arms as she squealed and playfully hit him and he carried her into the bedroom, saying with a laugh, “Shut up O’Casey or you’ll wake the neighbours!”

The next morning the two of them were awoken by the insistent buzzing of the doorbell. Kate groaned as she put a hand to her throbbing head, suffering a bit from the amount of alcohol she’d had the night before. “God who could that be at this hour of the morning?” she asked as Harry ran a hand over his face and shook his head.

“I don’t know but they’ve got a bloody hide – don’t they know we’ve got hangovers? Do you want me to get rid of them?” he offered as Kate nodded gratefully.

“Would you? Thanks babe,” she replied as she rolled back over to get some more much needed sleep.

Harry stumbled to the door and opened it. “What the bloody hell do you think you’re playing at? Do you know what time it is?” he demanded as he flung open the door to find Kate’s record producer and manager Miles standing there looking none too happy.

“Oh hello Miles,” he added a little sheepishly.

“Good morning Harry – is Kate here?” Miles retorted rather curtly, shaking his head slightly as he looked at Kate’s boyfriend standing there clad only in his boxers, his hair a mess and stubble on his face. It was obvious he’d spent the night.

“Ah yeah – come in. I’ll just go get her for you,” Harry replied a little awkwardly as Miles stepped inside the flat and viewed the state of it with much annoyance as he looked at the empty bottles of alcohol strewn about, bits of leftover food and cigarette remains.

“Ah Kate.. it’s Miles,” Harry informed her as she sat bolt upright in bed and swore under her breath.

“Oh no!” she muttered as she jumped out of bed and started throwing clothes on, worrying what he would think of the state the place was in.

“Hi Miles,” she greeted her manager rather sheepishly as she emerged from the bedroom and ran a hand through her hair.

“Morning Kate – would you care to explain what went on here last night and why I got a call from the real estate agent this morning to say they’d received a noise complaint from your neighbours?” Miles demanded, his displeasure showing in his voice.

Kate sighed, looking rather uncomfortable. “We just had a few friends round for a little housewarming party that’s all,” she tried to explain but Miles cut her off.

“A few friends? By the amount of bottles I can see strewn about I’d say there was more than a few, unless your friends are alcoholics,” he snapped in disbelief.

At that Harry tried to stifle a laugh which did not go down very well with an already ticked off Miles, who turned on him. “Do you think this is funny Harry?” he demanded as blue fire suddenly flashed in Harry’s eyes.

“Oh c’mon Miles so we had a party? Big deal.  We turned the music down after the coppers came,” he retorted and then at the look on Miles’s face and the warning glance Kate shot him he immediately regretted his words.

Miles shook his head with disappointment. “Oh that’s just perfect Kate! That’s all we need when the band’s first single has just hit the charts – for the papers to get hold of the fact that the police got called out to some wild party you were having!”

At that Kate started to get a little ticked off as well. If there was one thing she didn’t like, it was people telling her what to do.  “Well actually Miles one of the coppers asked for my autograph so I don’t think it’s going to be a problem,” she replied a little testily.

At that a slightly proud look crossed Mile’s face, despite his annoyance. “Did he recognise you?” he asked, realising that Kate and the rest of ‘KK and the Beat’ were quickly going to have to get used to fame.

“Well he did when Ronnie told him who we were,” Kate said as Miles looked at her.

“Ronnie was at the party?” he asked.

“Of course – I invited all the band,” Kate replied.

“Oh so you didn’t think to invite me?” Miles retorted in a slightly disappointed voice.

“I didn’t think it would be your sort of party Miles,” Kate replied as she gave him a knowing look and he replied, “Okay point taken.”

“Look Miles – I’m sorry, we’ll keep the music down from now on. And don’t worry we intend to clean up the place too,” Kate assured him.

“Well the music’s not the only thing you need to keep down according to your neighbours,” he added as he gave both Kate & Harry a meaningful look.

As it dawned on them what he was referring to Kate looked slightly embarrassed and Harry couldn’t help but grin. “Jealous are they?” he quipped as Miles gave him a withering look and Kate elbowed him.

At that Miles shook his head, wondering not for the first time why Kate was with this guy. To Miles, Harry spelt trouble and lots of it. Something his young rising star didn’t need as far as he was concerned. When Kate offered Miles a cup of tea as a conciliatory gesture and disappeared into the kitchen to make it, Miles couldn’t help but give her boyfriend a piece of his mind.

“I suppose the party was your idea was it?” he threw at Harry accusingly.

“Well actually it was Kate’s idea Miles,” Harry replied, trying to keep his rising anger in check.  “Look Miles I don’t want to argue with you – we both want what’s best for Kate,” Harry added as he looked intently at the older man.

“Do we?” Miles challenged him. “I know I do, but you I’m not so sure about,” he threw at him as Harry flashed him a dirty look.

“What do you mean by that?” Harry demanded.

“Well I think it’s obvious what you’re interested in – I think you only want what’s best for yourself,” Miles replied as he cast a look at Harry’s state of undress.  At that Harry blew out an exasperated breath. He knew this guy was important to Kate’s career but he was fighting the urge to deck him. “Not that it’s any of your business Miles but despite what you may think that’s not all I’m interested in. I love her Miles,” Harry stated sincerely.

At that Kate came back out of the kitchen with the tea after overhearing some of their conversation. “And I love Harry too Miles. Let me make one thing perfectly clear – Harry and I are a package deal. And quite frankly I’m sick of people trying to interfere in our relationship,” she stated adamantly, thinking not only of Miles but also of Harry’s ‘mentor’, Daniel Chalmers.

At that Miles sighed, knowing the more he pushed on that point she would only dig her heels in even more. Whilst he admired the stubborn determination Kate possessed, knowing it would help her advance her career and ensure her long term success in the music industry, he also found it frustrating at times and this was one of them.

“Oh I’m sure you both think you’re in love – but you’re kids – you don’t even know what love means,” Miles said dismissively as Kate’s eyes narrowed a bit.

“I may be young Miles but I’m not a kid,” she replied sharply. “And how can I write the lyrics I do if I don’t know what love means?” she threw at him as Miles had to admit she had a point there.

“Okay, okay. I don’t want to argue with you Kate. I just hope you’re worth the devotion she has for you Harry,” Miles said to the younger man, who returned the harsh look he gave him.

“Ah thanks for the tea Kate but I think I better take a raincheck. Just clean the place up hey?” he implored her as Kate nodded. “Harry,” he nodded  tersely to him as he went to leave.

“Miles,” Harry nodded back, his tone mirroring that of the older man. Kate somewhat awkwardly saw him to the door, wondering if she was ever going to get the two ‘men in her life’ to see eye to eye.

“I’ll see you first think Monday morning in the studio okay?” he said to her as she nodded. “I’m just trying to look out for you Kate,” he added sincerely as despite still being annoyed with him she nodded with a smile.

“I know you are Miles – but I’m a big girl, I can take care of myself,” she reassured him.

“I hope so Kate, I hope so,” he replied, not entirely convinced as he bade her farewell and walked back down to his awaiting car.


	17. Chapter 17

“Well Katie – looks like it’s all coming together for you eh?’ Harry stated as he flicked the tv onto an old movie he wanted to watch, and sat down on the lounge next to her, putting an arm around her. They were in the little flat Miles had organised for her, located near the recording studio – it wasn’t much, but it had everything she needed and it was certainly better than a boarding house or even worse, the streets. It also gave her & Harry somewhere they could be alone together. Since Daniel had ‘interrupted’ them when they were at his place a while ago, both of them had been a bit hesitant to indulge in anything at his flat since then. Harry had to admit he was more than happy when Kate told him about Miles’s idea to set her up in her own flat.

“Yeah I guess it is,” Kate replied with a grin as she nestled into him. “I still can’t quite believe it,” she marvelled at how quick things had been happening since that fateful day Miles Walker had discovered her when she was busking just a few short months ago. She hesitated for a moment then asked, “So what about you Harry? What do you want to do with your life?” Harry looked at her for a moment, wondering where on earth that question had come from. Truth was, he didn’t really know. He’d spent most of his young life doing what he had to do just to survive, so he’d never really given a ‘career’ as such, or what he wanted to do with his life much thought. He had very little formal education and his ‘skills’ such as they were, didn’t lend themselves to many legitimate occupations. ‘Locksmith?’ he thought wryly to himself.

“Hmm,” he pretended to be deep in thought, preferring to make light of it, rather than delve too deeply into things he’d prefer not to think about. He preferred not to plan too far ahead, just take life as it came – it had seemed to work okay for him so far he thought. “I don’t know – how about a detective?” he stated with a lopsided grin, not realising at the time how prophetic his words would be. “You know like Sam Spade in ‘ _The Maltese Falcon_ ’ – _Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Warner Brothers, 1941_ ,” Harry rattled off, doing his best Sam Spade impression as Kate rolled her eyes at him, both at his habit of quoting movie references at the drop of a hat and the idea of him becoming a detective.

“You? A detective?” she laughed. ”C’mon Harry – who would you investigate? Yourself?” in reference to most of his activities that were on the wrong side of the law. He shot her a fake look of annoyance. “Katie – you cut me to the quick,” he quipped. “Well at least I’d know what the buggers would be up to eh? Make ‘em easier to investigate I reckon,” he added, his eyebrow going up mischievously. “Now c’mon I’m trying to watch the movie Kate,” he tried to change the subject.

“Harry I’m serious,” Kate protested, trying to get the conversation back on track.

“So am I – this is a  good movie,” he retorted with a grin as he turned back to it. “Harry!” Kate hit him on the arm to get his attention, getting a bit annoyed that he wasn’t taking her seriously. “Ow! What was that for?” he retorted, starting to get a bit annoyed himself. “What do you want me to say Kate? I don’t know, maybe I’ll join the circus or something,” he stated a little sarcastically , (again not realising that that would in fact be one of his many future occupations). “What’s the big deal anyway?’ he demanded.

Kate looked at him for a moment. “Harry are you just going to follow Daniel around your whole life? Getting involved in his scams all the time? Don’t you want to make something of your life?” she threw at him in exasperation.

Harry looked at her with a mix of shock & anger and she knew she’d hit a nerve. “Of course I bloody well do,” he exploded as he got up off the lounge – she was hitting too close to the mark. “Unfortunately I don’t have the voice of an angel or can play a guitar like you can. I don’t have my life all mapped out for me like you obviously do now, and I like it like that,” he snapped at her.

Hurt, angry tears sprang to Kate’s eyes as she stood up as well. “No-one said you had to,” she threw back at him, wondering why he was getting so upset. “And I don’t have my life all mapped out for me. Sure Miles has given me a shot but I don’t know if I’m going to make it or for how long for – the music industry’s a fickle business,” she voiced her own fears. “Look I know you look up to Daniel and he means a lot to you but I worry about you Harry. What happens if one day his luck, or yours, runs out?” she stated, her anger easing off a bit as she looked at him.

He ran a hand through his hair. “That’s not going to happen,” he replied as much to convince himself as her.

“How can you be so sure Harry ?” she challenged him, her green eyes holding his blue eyes intently as he looked away from her,  a part of him suspecting she may have a point, but he wasn’t about to admit it. 

Kate sighed in frustration. “Harry,  I don’t want to see you end up in the nick..or worse,” she pleaded with him, her voice full of love and concern for him. “Look you’re smart and you’re creative – look at how well you can draw for instance. You could be anything you wanted to be,” she stated confidently, trying to convince him.

A rueful smile crossed his face as he shook his head. “Thanks for the vote of confidence Katie but how exactly? I’ve hardly got an education and my ’skills’ such as they are, don’t really lend themselves to a lot of legitimate, upstanding professions now do they?” he sighed.

As Kate listened to him she suddenly understood. She came up to him and put her arms around him. “Don’t sell yourself short babe,” she said gently with a tender smile.

Despite himself he smiled back at her. “I’m sorry I went off at you like that - you didn’t deserve that,” he apologised, his blue eyes full of regret. ”The truth is I don’t know what I want to do,” he admitted with a sigh.

Kate looked down at the floor for a moment then said, ”Miles wants me to go to America on a promotional tour when the album comes out – why don’t you come with me?  It could be a new start for both of us & maybe we can work out together what you want to do hey?” She couldn’t imagine going without him.  

A crooked grin crossed Harry’s face at the possibilities – America? He’d always wanted to go, particularly to Hollywood, the home of the movies he loved so much.  “Hmm.. that could be fun,” he stated with a grin as he pulled her closer to him and a smile lit up her face.

“I’ve got it!” he exclaimed suddenly.

“Got what?” Kate asked curiously. ”My future profession. I could be a spy – you know like James Bond,” he quipped as he wiggled his eyebrows devilishly at her. “The name’s Bond, James Bond,” he said with a grin, doing his best Connery impersonation as Kate laughed.

“Hmm not bad  - now that I could see you as. You’ve certainly got the charm,” she said with a knowing smile.

“Oh I do, do I?” he asked with a cheeky grin as he bent his head to hers.

“You know you do – now shut up and kiss me,” Kate laughed as he proceeded to do just that.

The kiss quickly deepened as his hands started travelling up from her waist. “I thought you wanted to watch the movie,” Kate whispered in his ear, her mouth curling into a smile.

“I’ve seen it before,” Harry replied with a grin, his blue eyes holding her captive as his kisses started trailing down her neck in the way he knew she liked.  “I’ll stop if you want me to,” he murmured with a chuckle, his voice husky.

“You know I don’t,” she confessed as she ran her hands through his hair.

“So shut up and kiss me then,” he echoed her earlier words as he gently pushed her in the direction of the lounge, and the movie played on, both of them oblivious to it….


	18. Chapter 18

A month or so later Harry & Kate were on the Tube catching it back to Kate’s flat after a night out with their friends. The carriage was deserted at first except for the two of them. Engrossed as they were chatting & laughing together they didn’t notice at first two young guys get on at a station along the way, until the guys’ drunken conversation caught their attention.

“I’m telling you mate that song’s rubbish – she’s just trying to be like Britain’s answer to Suzi Quatro or something. She and her band‘ll just be one hit wonders if they’re lucky. What sort of a name is that anyway – KK?” one of the guys said to the other as they sat down.

Harry immediately felt Kate tense next to him. “Katie – don’t worry about it. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” Harry murmured reassuringly in her ear as he gently squeezed her hand that he held. Kate smiled at him gratefully as she looked out the window trying to forget it & ignore the two guys.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about – it’s a brilliant song!” the other guy argued as Harry smiled at Kate and whispered, “See - there you go.” What they guy said next though wiped the smile off his face. “Anyway it’s not the song that I’m interested in - I’d do her in a heartbeat!” the guy laughed crudely as both Harry & Kate tried to fight back their angry responses. 

His mate laughed in reply as he looked round the carriage and suddenly spied her and Harry.

“Oh mate – here’s your chance. Isn’t that her?” he stated with a surprised laugh as he nodded towards where Kate & Harry were sitting.

“Ooh I reckon it is  - I’d know that face anywhere, not to mention the bod,” his friend remarked with a wink as Kate felt Harry bristle possessively next to her.

With that the guys got up and walked drunkenly towards them. “Hey darlin’ you’re KK aren’t you?” the one in front slurred his words as he sat down in the seat in front of them and turned around to face them, a lecherous grin on his face.

“What if I am?” Kate retorted as she glared at him.

“Oh come on sweetheart don’t be like that - I’m your number one fan,” he laughed as did his friend.

“I doubt that very much,” Harry interjected drolly as the guy looked at him.

“Who are you, her boyfriend or something?” the guy threw at him.

“Yeah I am – what of it?” Harry retorted with a challenging look in his eyes.

“Well aren’t you a lucky bugger – getting to do ‘KK’ every night!” the guy laughed crudely as he leered at her and blue fire blazed in Harry’s eyes.

“Why don’t you watch your mouth mate,” Harry said in a warning tone as his right hand started clenching into a fist.

“Or what?” the guy shot back. “You gonna take both of us on huh pretty boy? There’s two of us and only one of you in case you can’t count,” the guy sitting in front of them jeered as his mate sat down in the seat behind Harry & Kate and loomed menacingly over them and said, “That’s right.”

With that Kate spoke up. “I think you’re the one who can’t count mate – there’s actually two of us, so why don’t you and your buddy here piss off if you know what’s good for you,” she said in a threatening tone, her green eyes flashing angrily.

At that the two guys laughed, thinking to themselves, who is she kidding? “Oh she’s got a mouth on her,” the one sitting in front of them stated with a snigger then added crudely as he winked at Harry, “Bet she knows how to use it too eh mate?”

With that Harry had heard enough as he snapped and his fist shot out, connecting with the guy’s face, sending him sprawling off the seat. The other guy though immediately reacted, grabbing Harry from behind around the throat. “You’ll pay for that mate,” he stated ominously to Harry as he tightened his grip. But he hadn’t factored on Kate, assuming she would just sit there like a helpless little girl while they laid into her boyfriend.

“Let go of him you bugger!” she yelled as her own fist slammed into the guy’s face, taking him completely by surprise as he let go of Harry.

“Why you little bitch!” the guy exclaimed angrily as he put a hand up to his bleeding nose.

“Thanks Katie,” Harry said as he gingerly rubbed his throat.

“Don’t mention it babe,” she replied with a grin then nodded toward the back of him in warning as the first guy had got up off the floor and was advancing towards him. Harry whirled round and blocked the guy’s punch before landing one of his own.

Meanwhile the second guy advanced on Kate, out for revenge for his broken nose. “Oh you think you can play with the big boys hey darlin’? Think you’re some big tough rock star huh? Maybe a good hiding’ll teach you some manners and then we might have some fun with you once we take care of your boyfriend,” he threatened her.

Harry went to go to her defence as he heard him say that but the other guy said “Where do you think you’re going mate?” as he managed to sink his fist into Harry’s stomach.

Angered by that and by the other guy’s threats, Kate stared him down as he tried to grab her. “Like hell you will,” she replied determinedly as she elbowed the guy in the stomach, ducking as his fist came towards her, but not quite low enough as it caught her on the side of her cheek. She staggered back a bit from the blow but held her ground, but as Harry looked on worriedly he knew she couldn’t hold off the guy forever, given he was twice her size. Knowing he had to do something about the situation before the two guys got the upper hand on them, he landed a strong upper cut to the guy in front of him’s jaw, knocking him out as he fell to the ground in a crumpled heap.

“Right sunshine – now it’s your turn,” he said as he turned his attention to the other bloke who had hit Kate. “So you’re into hitting women are you? Well let’s see how you fare with someone your own size eh?” he threw at him angrily as he pummelled the guy. “I’ll bloody teach you to lay a hand on my girl you bastard,” he added furiously as the guy tried to block his punches to no avail. Harry felt like something had snapped in him – his anger and concern for Kate overwhelming him as the guy fell to the ground but Harry kept punching him.

“Harry! That’s enough - leave him!” Kate implored him as she pulled him off the guy who was lying on the floor, desperately trying to cover his head with his hands.

“He hurt you Kate!” he stated, his voice cracking with raw emotion,  as he took a breath trying to calm himself down. He hadn’t lost control like that for a long time, felt that rage welling up in him. For a second or two he had felt like that lonely, angry little boy on the streets of Dublin and then Brixton, fighting to survive and hold on to the little he had.

“It’s okay – I’m okay,” she reassured him with a gentle smile as she hugged him to her. “C’mon let’s just get out of here,” she added as they hopped off the Tube as it pulled into another station.

Once they got back to Kate’s place Harry had calmed down a bit. They both sat on the lounge, Harry putting an arm around her, pulling her close. “You copped a good one Katie,” he said with concern as he looked at the bruise on her cheek.

“Yeah but I got that creep a better one – broke his nose I reckon!’ she laughed with more than little pride as Harry laughed as well and shook his head at her.

“You are something else O’Casey,” he remarked, then he got up and went into the kitchen, bringing her back some ice cubes wrapped in a cloth to put on her bruised cheek. “Thanks,” she said gratefully as she gingerly put it on her face. “And thanks for coming to my defence back there,” she added with a smile as he smiled back at her.

“You’re welcome – although you were doing okay, I thought you could do with a hand. That creep was a bit bigger than you,” he pointed out as he gave her a meaningful look.

Kate nodded silently then sighed as she ran a hand through her hair. “I don’t know if I can do this Harry,” she confessed.

“Do what?” he asked quizzically. “This whole fame thing – getting recognised and hassled all the time like that,” she stated.

“Oh c’mon Katie those guys were just jerks,” Harry replied, trying to convince her.

“There’s plenty of jerks out there Harry,” Kate pointed out.

“True,” Harry conceded, then he took her hand in his and looked at her intently. “But I’ve never seen you back down from a fight Katie. You can’t let people like that stop you from chasing your dream. The O’Casey I know is tough enough to handle this. I guess it’s part of the territory unfortunately eh?"

As he said this he smiled at her, his blue eyes shining with his love and belief in her. Kate smiled back at him, gaining strength from his confidence in her. ”Thanks,” she said simply with a smile as she kissed him tenderly.

When they drew apart Harry hesitated for a moment then looking her in the eyes said seriously, “I want you to promise me something Katie.”

“Anything Harry,” she replied with a smile, wondering what he was getting at.

“Promise me you’ll never give up on your dream – no matter what happens Katie. You’re a fighter O’Casey – you need to keep on fighting eh?”

At that Kate looked at him and smiled, wondering a little where that had come from. “I promise,” she said as he hugged her.

“You are gonna be a star Katie and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise okay,” he murmured into her hair, holding onto her like he’d never let her go but all the while wondering if he was the one holding her back from becoming who he knew she was destined to be.

                                                ************************************

The next day when Kate turned up at the recording studio Miles noticed the bruise on her cheek. “What’s that on your face Kate?” he asked with concern.

“It’s nothing Miles,” she tried to brush it off.

“Kate I’m sure I don’t have to remind you you’ve got a photo shoot today,” he said a little sternly.

“I’m well aware of that Miles,” Kate retorted.

“Well how on earth did you get a bruise on your cheek?” he demanded.

At that Kate sighed. “Harry and I got into a fight last night ..” she started to explain but Miles Interjected, jumping to conclusions.

“Harry did this to you?” he asked with more than a little anger. At that Kate’s eyes flashed furiously at him, wondering how he could even think that.

“No of course not,” she replied, more than a little irritated with him. “I was going to say Harry and I got into a fight with a couple of creeps on the Tube last night who were hassling me. Harry came to my defence Miles – he would never hurt me,” she stated adamantly.

At that Miles put his hands up in a gesture to placate her. “Okay I’m sorry I jumped to conclusions,“ he conceded a little. ”But you’ve got an image to think of now Kate. You can’t go round getting into street fights and the like. If the press got wind of this they’d have a field day,” he sighed as he rubbed his forehead a little in consternation. He knew Kate was a bit of a ‘wild child’ and that certainly added to her ‘rock chick’ appeal in some ways, but in other ways he was afraid it could get her into trouble. Not something that someone who was just starting their career in the music biz really needed.

 “You can’t keep hanging round with these kind of people who are going to get you into trouble,” he muttered as Kate’s eyes narrowed a bit.  She had got her back up over what he’d said, especially his very incorrect assumptions about Harry.

“Harry is my ‘kind of people’ Miles - you can’t tell me what to do you know,” she snapped at him.

At the frustrated look that momentarily crossed Miles’s face Kate wondered if she’d gone too far. “Look Miles I appreciate all you’ve done for me and the chance you’ve given me, but this is who I am and I’m not changing – not for you or anyone,” she stated, her voice still determined but somewhat softer.

“I don’t expect you to Kate but like it or not your world is changing and will continue to change - very quickly I suspect by the way the band's first single is racing up the charts,” he said gently, with more than a hint of pride.  “Now I know that you’re new to the music biz so take it from an old hand who’s been around the traps a bit – it’s your face as much as your talent that’s going to sell your records sweetheart.“

At that Kate focused her gaze on the ground and nodded, knowing he was right. Miles could see she was upset and he didn’t want to argue with her anymore – he needed that dazzling ‘Kate Kelly’ smile to be at it’s best for the band’s photoshoot. “Just think about what I said okay?’ he said and left it at that. “Now how about you go and get some makeup on to cover that bruise hey kiddo?” he suggested with a smile as she smiled back at him and walked out of the room.


	19. Chapter 19

After Kate got her first advance from Miles she decided she wanted to get something nice for both Harry & herself to commemorate the first decent amount of money she’d ever earnt and also as a symbol of their bond.  As they were walking down the street together one day they passed a jewellery store with a sign in the window, “Free ear piercing with every pair of earrings purchased.” A grin spread across her face as an idea popped into her head. She grabbed Harry’s hand impulsively and pulled him into the store.

“What are you doing Katie?” he laughed.

“It’s not what I’m doing, it’s what we’re doing,” she replied with a mischievous grin. 

“And what are ‘we’ doing exactly?” he asked with a grin of his own. Then a thought suddenly popped into his head as he looked around the store – God, I hope she’s not looking at engagement rings, thinking to himself that although he loved her, they were too young to be contemplating anything like that.

“We’re getting our ears pierced,” Kate stated matter-of-factly as Harry looked momentarily relieved then realised what she’d said. He looked at her, somewhat shocked.

“Oh no we’re not,” he laughed. “You can get your’s pierced if you like but not mine,” he added firmly as he shook his head.

“Come on Harry – it’d look so cool on you,” Kate pleaded with him as she gave him a look he could never say no to.

“Don’t look at me like that Katie,” he said with fake annoyance.

“Why?” she asked innocently.

“'Cause you know I can’t say no to you when you look at me like that,” he muttered ruefully. 

A smile crossed her face as her green eyes twinkled at him. “So I take it that’s a yes then?” she laughed as despite himself he grinned at her. Knowing how stubborn she could be, he knew he had little chance of changing her mind once she’s made it up about something.

“Okay, okay,” he relented as she excitedly pulled him over to the display cabinet containing the earrings.

“Can I help you?’” the shop assistant asked in a somewhat condescending tone, looking at the teenage couple standing there. They certainly didn’t look like their usual clientele, dressed as they were.

“Yes we’d like to look at some earrings thanks,” Kate replied then pointed to a pair of diamond studs as she looked at Harry. “How about those ones?”

He looked at the price tag and almost fell over. “Kate are you sure?” he asked unsurely but Kate nodded her head determinedly. “Well – it’s your money,” he replied with a shrug.

“We’ll look at those thanks,” Kate said as she pointed to them.

The shop assistant looked at her with a slightly patronising expression and said, “Are you sure dear? They’re very expensive. Perhaps something else would be more in your price range?”

At this Kate saw red a little – she was sick and tired of being treated like that just because she hadn’t been born with a silver spoon in her mouth. She whipped out her purse and pulled a few hundred pound notes of it and slammed them down on the counter. ”I think that should cover it,” she stated firmly, giving the shop assistant a look that dared her to argue with her. Harry tried to stifle a laugh, wondering if the woman would be foolish enough to take Kate on.

“Your sign says you do free piercing too?” Kate added as the shop assistant, still in a state of shock, nodded as she got the earrings out of the display cabinet. “Ah yes.. if you’ll just come out the back here we can do it for you,” she replied hurriedly as she motioned to Kate.

“Oh they’re for both of us – one each,” Kate explained as Harry gulped a little – he wasn’t really looking forward to the pain of getting his ear pierced.

They followed the shop assistant to a little room at the back of the store. When she picked up the piercing gun Harry looked even more worried. “Ah.. ladies first,” he said to Kate with a slightly nervous grin, making out he was just being gentlemanly when in reality he was as nervous as hell.

Kate grinned back at him. “You wouldn’t be scared now would you Harry?” she teased him.

“No of course not,” he replied hurriedly and then pulled her into his arms as in an attempt to change the subject, and whispered a little huskily in her ear, ”You know what happens when you tease me woman.”

“Promises, promises,” she chuckled mischievously as she cocked an eyebrow at her, and by the look he gave her she knew he intended to keep his ‘promise’.

The shop assistant coughed a little conspicuously to get their attention. “So who’s going first then?” she asked.

“I guess I am,” Kate stated with a rueful grin as she sat down on the chair. Harry could barely watch as the shop assistant brought the gun up to Kate’s ear then pierced it. Kate grimaced a bit at the pain and bit her lip but didn’t make a sound. The shop assistant then held up a mirror so she could look at the earring. “Looks good,” Kate commented then she turned to Harry and said with a grin, “Your turn.”

He gulped a little as they swapped places. “Do you want me to hold your hand?” she laughed a little at the look of trepidation on his face.

“Bugger off O’Casey,” he retorted, a little irritated, as she playfully poked her tongue out at him.

“C’mon let’s get it over with,” he said to the shop assistant as she reloaded the gun then brought it up to his ear lobe.

“Bloody hell! Ow!” he swore in pain as the earring went in and Kate tried not to laugh as he almost jumped out of the chair.

“Would you like to have a look?” the assistant offered him the mirror as he practically snatched it off her.

“Well that much pain better be worth it – it better look good,” he muttered as he looked in the mirror. Despite himself a grin crossed his face – he had to admit it did look pretty cool.

After they left the jeweller’s Harry was still grumbling though. “That bloody well killed Katie. Why did I let you talk me into that?”

“Oh stop being such a baby,” Kate rebuked him with a laugh. “It didn’t hurt that much”.

“I have very sensitive ear lobes,” he tried to explain with a pout that made him look like a little boy.

“Oh is that so? Do you want mummy to kiss it better?” Kate replied with a laugh as she looked at him intently.

“Well I don’t know about mummy – but you can,” he quipped cheekily as she proceeded to do just that, the two of them oblivious to the fact that they were standing on a public street. She gently kissed and licked his pierced ear lobe and then moved her lips to that little point on his neck just below his ear,  that she’d discovered a while back, that she knew drove him crazy.

“Katie..” he practically growled in a warning tone as he pulled her closer to him. 

“All better now?” she asked with a grin.

“Getting there,” he conceded then added mischievously,”I have a few other places that could do with getting kissed better,” as he wiggled his eyebrows at her and she laughed and playfully hit him.

“I think the earring looks really sexy on you,” she then murmured as she traced her tongue over it.

“Oh you do huh?” Harry asked with a grin as she nodded. “Ah, how quick can we get to your place from here?” he laughed in her ear.

“Not quick enough  - c’mon lets go,” she replied with a meaningful look as she grabbed his hand and pulled him down the street.

                                **********************************************

The next day Harry popped over to Daniel’s. “Oh hello Harry – decided to drop in have we?” Daniel greeted him with a hint of sarcasm. He was lucky if he saw the boy these days – now that his girlfriend Kate had her own place he seemed to be spending more & more time there and less with Daniel, and Daniel was none too happy about it. Despite his concerted efforts, the hold this girl had on his young protégé seemed stronger than ever. 

Harry looked at him a little apologetically. “Sorry Daniel – I’ve been busy.”

“Yes – I know what doing,” Daniel replied as he gave the young man a knowing look. Harry couldn’t help the somewhat cheeky grin that crossed his face.

As Daniel looked at him he suddenly noticed the diamond earring in his ear. “What in blazes is that in your ear Harry?” he demanded a little angrily as Harry looked a bit taken aback – it wasn’t like Daniel to lose his temper. He was usually the epitome of calm.

“It’s an earring Daniel,” Harry replied, stating the obvious.

“I know it’s a bloody earring Harry, “ Daniel replied, starting to get a bit frustrated with him. “What’s it doing in your ear?” It was hardly the look he wanted for his young protégé.

“Kate and I decided to get our ears pierced - it was her idea,” he added a little defensively. “She bought a pair of earrings - one for her and one for me.”

Daniel tried to keep his rising anger under control as he shook his head. “Oh Harry my boy – are you happy to be a ‘kept man”, with your ‘rock star’ girlfriend throwing little baubles like diamond earrings at you? Are you content with just being her, what do they call them.. groupie?” he stated harshly as Harry bristled with anger himself.

“I am not a groupie Daniel,” he replied between clenched teeth.  “Kate loves me – in fact she wants me to go to America with her when she goes on tour,” he added, his blue eyes flashing angrily as Daniel thought to himself, over my dead body.

“And what are you going to do over there Harry? While she’s busy with her music career – are you just going to sit around waiting for her to have some time for you, twiddling your thumbs?” Daniel demanded.

“No of course not..” Harry began to reply, but truth be told he hadn’t thought that far ahead.

Daniel however, cut him off. “Harry stop thinking with what’s in your pants and start thinking with what’s in your head will you!” he stated in exasperation as Harry looked at him, a bit shocked at his crudeness. “Don’t look at me so shocked my boy. You think I don’t know the hold she has over you? She just gives you a wink and you come running. Even talked you into getting your ear pierced for God’s sake!” Daniel threw at him. “Well I hope you got your just reward for being a good obedient boy Harry,” he added sarcastically as Harry’s eyes narrowed in anger.

 “Now just hold on a bloody minute Daniel..” he went to argue.

“No you hold on a minute Harry. Let me ask you something – what happens when she gets tired of you? When she’s suddenly got the world at her feet, her choice of men? Do you really think you’re going to fit into that lifestyle? You know as well as I do that’s not the life for you – you don’t fit into her world any more than she fits into yours,” the older man stated firmly and as much as Harry didn’t want to admit it , deep down he had a niggling fear that Daniel was right.

“That’s not going to happen,” he tried to argue as Daniel gave him a challenging look.

“How can you be so sure Harry? And another thing – do you just want to be known as Kate’s other half the rest of your life? Or do you want to be a man and make your own way in the world?” Daniel stated, knowing that would get to him too. “You’re far too young to be tying yourself down to just one girl – I mean this week it’s an earring, what will she be expecting next week – an engagement ring?”

Daniel could tell he was starting to get to him but he also knew he had to tread very carefully – it would do him no good to continue to anger the boy as that would only drive him further away from him. “Look Harry my boy,” he went on in a calmer voice, “I just want what’s best for you and quite frankly I don’t think she’s it. I mean look at the way she treated you when you turned up late for her show that time?” he reminded him.

“We sorted that out,” Harry retorted a little defensively.

“Maybe so,” Daniel replied “But sorry to say, something tells me that won’t be an isolated incident.”

Harry shook his head and looked him squarely in the eye. “You’re wrong about her Daniel – when we talked that night she was willing to go and rip up her record contract – for me,” he stated adamantly.

Daniel paused, but only for a moment – that was an unexpected development and he knew he had to play his next hand very carefully. At the moment it looked like this infernal young girl held all the cards when it came to Harry, but Daniel wasn’t the losing kind and he still had a few Aces up his sleeve.

“Is that what you want Harry? For her to give up her dreams for you?” he left the question hanging in the air as Harry suddenly looked uncomfortable. “Is that what it’s going to take for the two of you to be together?”

“Look Harry my boy – you have a unique gift and I see great potential in you. What we could achieve together, you and I, boggles the mind. I’d hate to see that God given talent go to waste,” he added, giving Harry a meaningful look, appealing to his young male ego. “How about you come to Europe with me? It would give you the opportunity to further enhance your ‘skills’ and allow you to graduate to the ‘big time’. You’re too good to just be a pick pocket and petty thief the rest of your life. And let’s face it, if the press found out Kate Kelly’s boyfriend was nothing but a common thief, what do you think that would do for her career?”

Harry focused his gaze on the floor, unable to look at him – he was hitting too close to home. “If you really care about her, you’ll let her go – for both your sakes,” Daniel played his Ace as Harry finally looked up at him, an unreadable expression in his blue eyes.  He had him thinking, Daniel thought to himself, deciding he’d said enough.

“Anyway I have to pop out for a bit  - just have a think about what I said okay? The world awaits you Harry – starting with the Continent. You just have to reach out and grab it my boy,” Daniel said with a wink as he left Harry to his conflicted thoughts.


	20. Chapter 20

A week or so later Kate took Harry along to a big music industry function that Miles had arranged for her and the band to attend. “I’m feeling kinda underdressed Katie,” Harry muttered as they walked into the room in the fancy inner city hotel where the function was being held, and he looked at the denim jacket and jeans he was wearing in comparison to the suits most of the other male guests, except for the rock stars, were wearing.

“Don’t worry Harry – you look fine. In fact you look more than fine,” Kate reassured him with a cheeky grin as she cast an appreciative eye over him and he grinned back at her.

They took in the scene before them – there were people everywhere eating & drinking, loud music was pumping and strobe lights were flashing – it was a totally different world to what the two of them were used to.

“Ah there you Kate – wondered when you were going to get here,” Miles greeted her with a smile as he came up to the two of them. “Harry,” he greeted Kate’s boyfriend in a much less affectionate manner.

“Miles,” Harry replied, forcing a smile onto his face.

“Mind if I borrow your girlfriend for a while? There’s some people I’d like her to meet,” Miles stated, not really caring whether Harry minded or not, but he was prepared to ‘play nice’ for Kate’s sake.

“Sure go ahead,” Harry stated.

“Are you sure you’ll be okay Harry?’ Kate asked as he nodded with a smile.

“Sure I will – I’m a big boy,” he replied with a grin as she smiled and kissed him saying, “I won’t be too long.”

As Miles steered her off through the crowd Harry looked around, wondering what he could do to occupy himself. He grabbed a beer from a passing waitress, then realising there was free food headed off toward the buffet. He was filling up his plate when he felt a hand on his rear. A grin crossed his face as assuming it was Kate, he quipped devilishly, “My you’re a cheeky girl aren’t you O’Case..” then stopped short as he turned around to find not Kate but a thirty something, bleached blonde woman standing there with a seductive smile on her face.

“Hi there handsome – well I certainly haven’t been called a girl in a while but you can call me anything and anytime you like,” she laughed as she moved closer to him. “My you do have an ..appetite don’t’ you?” she remarked suggestively  as she looked at his plate which was piled high with food. Harry laughed a little nervously, wondering who this woman was. “So what’s your name gorgeous?” she breathed, practically in his ear. “I haven’t seen you at one of these things before.”

“Ah..my name’s Harry,” he replied as he tried to move away from her a bit.

“Well I’m very pleased to meet you.. Harry. I’m Amanda Parker, publicist to the stars - perhaps you’ve heard of me?”

Harry shook his head a little awkwardly. “Sorry no. I’m pretty new to all this,” he admitted with a slightly nervous grin.

“Oh really? Well I’d be happy to show you the ropes.. or anything else you’d like to see,” she murmured huskily as she pressed herself against him, showing off an ample amount of cleavage as Harry tried to avert his gaze and gently but firmly held her away from him.

“Ah look Miss Parker..” he began.

“Please - call me Amanda,” she insisted as she looked at him intently.

“Um. Amanda, I’m flattered but I actually have a girlfriend.” he added as his eyes searched the crowd for her.

“Oh really? And who might that lucky lady be? Anyone I might know?” she asked with more than a hint of disappointment.

“Kate O’Casey.. I mean Kelly, actually,” he corrected himself, still trying to get used to her performing name. At this a surprised look crossed Amanda’s face.

“Oh that darling little KK? Well, I guess she’s cute and all but if you want a real woman give me a call,” she replied with a lustful look as she ran a hand over his chest and placed one of her business cards into his shirt pocket then disappeared into the crowd.

Meanwhile Kate had noticed Amanda Parker, who was a well known ‘man-eater’ in the music biz obviously coming on to Harry, as her eyes narrowed a bit. “What do you think Kate?” one of the people she had been talking to said as Kate looked at them, rather distracted by the sight of that woman flirting with her boyfriend.

“Ah.. sorry, what did you say?” Kate apologised as she turned back to the people she’d been talking to, trying to fight the urge to go and deck that old tart Amanda Parker.

After a while she excused herself and started to head through the crowd towards Harry who was now thankfully alone. As she moved through the crowd though she suddenly felt her hand being grabbed and she was pulled into someone’s arms. “Where you off to darlin’? We haven’t been properly introduced yet,” the owner of the arms said as he grinned somewhat lecherously at her. Kate looked up to see Johnny Cole, a relatively famous heart throb rock star who was in his early twenties. She knew Miles was also his manager and record producer.

“You’re KK aren’t you?” he asked as she tried to squirm out of his arms. “And I’m sure you know who I am - the one and only Johnny Cole, “ he said rather arrogantly as she rolled her eyes at him.

“Am I supposed to be impressed by that?” she retorted as he looked a little surprised – he was used to girls fawning all over him.

“Oh so you like playing hard to get huh? That’s cool baby – I can dig it. I like chicks with a bit of spunk,” he replied as he winked at her, then he added, “You see I make it my personal mission to properly welcome all the new ‘fillies’ to the Miles Walker stable,” as his hands started wandering and Kate very firmly caught them in hers and shoved him off her.

“Oh I’m sure you do but in case you haven’t noticed I’m not a horse,” she snapped sarcastically, her green eyes flashing angrily at him as he laughed.

“Oh you’re cute,” Johnny stated as he cast an appreciative eye over her and smiled.

“I assure you Johnny – I may be a lot of things, but cute is not one of them,” Kate stated adamantly then she added, “Anyway I have a boyfriend so I’m really not interested.”

At that a disbelieving look crossed Johnny’s face. “So where is he then?” he asked, as he tried to move closer to her again but she stepped back putting some distance between them.

“Over there actually,” she indicated with a jerk of her head as she spied Harry at the bar looking none too happy as he saw Johnny Cole trying to crack onto her. Harry meanwhile was, as Kate had been earlier, fighting the urge to go and punch the bloke as he was sure Kate wouldn’t appreciate it if he started a fight.

“Who - that young guy?” Johnny laughed as Kate fumed.”Is he the first bloke you gave it to then huh? Lucky bugger!” he commented crudely as he tried to move closer to her. “You do know what they say about variety though,” he added as he gave her a meaningful look.

“I don’t need any variety thanks and you can mind your own bloody business,” Kate spat at him through clenched teeth as she went to move away from him. 

“C’mon sweetheart don’t be like that – a girl like you needs a real man, not some kid like that,” he tried to win her over as he grabbed her arm but Kate shook him off and glared at him.

“Oh trust me  - he’s man enough for me,”  she threw at him as she walked off  towards Harry, leaving Johnny dumbfounded, as he wasn’t used to being turned down.

Kate had almost reached the bar and Harry when a few of her band mates came up to her and started chatting. She shot Harry an apologetic look as he shrugged and tossed back another beer, wondering if they were ever going to get to spend any time together at this party.

After downing a few more beers while waiting for Kate, Harry was starting to feel rather ‘merry’. As the DJ started playing a song they both liked Harry decided he felt like dancing. “C’mon O’Casey how about we go have a little dance eh?” he said with a grin and a mischievous wiggle of his eyebrows as he grabbed her hand and pulled her away from her bandmates that she was busy talking to, onto the dance floor.

“Harry! I was talking to them,” she protested with a laugh.

“Why talk when you can dance eh?” he replied, his blue eyes smouldering at her as he pulled her against him, his hips moving against hers rather suggestively as they danced, subconsciously trying to ‘stake his claim’ to her.

 “Harry.. what are you doing?” she asked under her breath.

“What does it feel like I’m doing Katie? Turning you on I hope,” he murmured with a chuckle against her ear as he ran a hand over her behind.

“Harry c’mon – we can’t be dancing like this here,” she replied, giving him a meaningful look.

“Why not?’ he asked with a devilish grin.

“Because all the execs from my record company are here,” she pointed out.

“And? You’re a ‘rock chick’ not a folk singer remember - you’re supposed to be a bit wild,” he quipped mischievously.

“Still, Harry..,” she stated, a little embarrassed as she could see people watching them.

“Alright I’ll behave myself,” he relented with a sigh. “Geez comes to something when you can’t even dance with your girl like you want to,” he grumbled a little as he reluctantly put some distance between them.

After a while, Miles tapped Kate on the shoulder as Harry thought to himself, ‘What now?’ and he glared at Miles a bit. “Time to go to work Kate - the record company execs want to meet you,” Miles said as he ignored Harry’s look and instead focused on Kate.

“Sure Miles,” she replied as Harry reluctantly let her out of his arms but kept a hand on her waist as they followed Miles.

“Kate – I’d like you to meet Don Hancock and Phil Jones,” Miles introduced her to the record company execs as Kate smiled politely and shook both of the middle aged men’s hands.

“So this is our KK hey? Well nice to meet you Miss Kelly – or can I call you Kate?” Hancock greeted her with a lascivious smile as he cast an eye over the young girl, which didn’t go unnoticed by Harry who bristled a bit as he put an arm around her.

“Her name’s Kate O’Casey,” Harry suddenly said as the execs and Miles looked at him.

“I beg your pardon? And you are?” Hancock asked as he regarded the young man with her with some disdain.

“Her real name’s O’Casey and I’m her boyfriend, Harry,” he replied, his jaw clenching  a bit.

“Well it’s her stage name that matters now.. Harry,” the exec stated rather condescendingly as he wondered what she was doing with this guy.

“And are you in the music biz too?” he asked him as Harry looked a tad uncomfortable.

“Ah..no,” he mumbled.

“Well how about you leave this conversation to the experts then son?” he replied in a patronising tone as Kate felt Harry tensing next to her.

“Harry.. just leave it,” she muttered under her breath as she shot him a warning look.

“Fine,” he replied none too happily. “I’ll leave you ‘experts’ to it then shall I?” he added angrily as he stalked off.

“Harry.. wait!” Kate called after him as she followed him through the crowd, despite Miles trying to call her back.

“She’s quite an attractive package Walker – good find there,” Hancock commented to Miles as he watched her walk off, thinking to himself with her combination of talent & looks, ‘KK and the Beat’ were sure to make it big and make a lot of money for the record company. “Get her to lose the boyfriend though – he could be a liability,” he added as Miles nodded. “Believe me – I’ve tried,” he replied as he shook his head ruefully.

Harry angrily pushed his way through the crowd to the balcony outside, wondering why he’d ever agreed to come to this stupid party with Kate. With a brooding look clouding his handsome features he stared down at the city traffic below, wondering how he was ever going to fit into this world.

“Harry..” he heard Kate come up behind him.

“Thought you were busy schmoozing up to the big wigs.” he replied a little bitterly.

“Harry.. I’m sorry for the way he spoke to you but what do you want me to do? I’ve got to work with these people,” Kate tried to explain as he blew out a frustrated breath. She came and leant on the railing next to him. “Harry.. look at me,” she pleaded with him, her voice soft. 

He did as she asked, his blue eyed gaze intense. “Maybe I should go and leave you to it Katie - I don’t belong here,” he stated as he shook his head then focused his gaze on the ground.

With that Kate took his face in her hands and looked him in the eyes. ”You belong with me,” she stated simply as she smiled and kissed him tenderly. Harry nodded as he pulled her into his arms, trying to push away the little niggle of doubt that was threatening to rear its ugly head. Despite him responding to her Kate could still feel a tension in him so she pulled him even closer to her, showing him how much he meant to her in the best way she knew how.  They were soon oblivious to anything other than each other and reluctantly pulled away from each other when they heard Miles coughing conspicuously behind them.

Kate rested her head for a moment on Harry’s chest. “Sorry.. duty calls,” she sighed.

“It’s ok O’Casey – go do what you gotta do,” he murmured as he planted a kiss on top of her head. “Just don’t forget that’s your name & where you come from huh?” he whispered in her ear as she looked up at him, a little surprised that he would even think she would.

”Never,” she confirmed with a smile.

“Kate..ah sorry to Interrupt,” Miles said a little awkwardly, although he wasn’t really. “Just wondering if you and the band wouldn’t mind doing a number or two?” as he looked at her expectantly, thinking that’s what you’re here for, not to be outside kissing your boyfriend.

“Sure Miles,” she replied, forcing a smile onto her face as she gave Harry’s hand a reassuring squeeze, as he watched her head inside, feeling a little like she was starting to slip away from him. He went to follow her but Miles stood in front of him, blocking his way.

“I’d like a word if you don’t mind Harry. In case you haven’t noticed, this is not just a social evening for Kate – networking with these people is part of her job. Now let me spell it out for you in plain English so you’ll understand – you need to back off and let her do that job. Those record company execs in there could make or break her career and the last thing she needs is you making a fool of yourself and her,” Miles stated sternly as Harry fought to control his rising anger.

“I have no intention of making a fool of her Miles,” he replied between clenched teeth.

“Well how about you stop knocking back the free booze and keep your mouth shut then,” Miles threw at him then added, “And if you intend on coming to anymore of these functions with Kate make sure you dress the part and wear a suit will you.”

“I don’t have a suit,” Harry stated.

“Well get one,” Miles replied with a pointed look.

“Come off it Miles, half the guys in there are in jeans and leather jackets,” Harry argued.

“Yes they’re rock stars Harry – you’re not,” Miles pointed out harshly as he turned on his heel and went back inside, leaving Harry to his angry, troubled thoughts.

A while later, stumbling  a little due to the amount of alcohol he’d imbibed over the course of the evening ,Harry accidentally knocked over a row of glasses that were set up on a table. “Oops .. sorry,” he mumbled with a drunken grin as he tried to pick them up.

“Harry.. just leave it,” Kate implored him with more than a little embarrassment as she grabbed him and pushed him none too subtly towards a chair.

Miles then came up to her looking rather angry. “Kate.. get him out of here before he ruins anything else – including your reputation,” he stated firmly as he gave her a pointed look. Kate nodded then went and hauled Harry up from his seat.

“C’mon Harry let’s get out of here,” she sighed with a little frustration.

“Oh c’mon Katie it’s just getting fun!” he replied with a laugh as Kate rolled her eyes at him.

“For who Harry?” she muttered as she dragged him out the door.

As they walked down the street trying to hail a cab Harry started chuckling to himself. ”What’s so funny?” Kate demanded, beginning to get irritated with him.

“Oh that guy .. what was his name Handcock and his poor excuse for a wig! What a name!” he laughed, getting a fit of the giggles like a naughty little schoolboy as he repeated the name, finding it hilarious.

“It’s ‘Hancock’ Harry not ‘Handcock’ for God’s sake! He is sort of my boss you know,” Kate said in exasperation as she managed to flag down a cab and practically pushed him into it.

“Oh, come on lighten up Katie – it was a joke,” he laughed as she shook her head at him.

“Just shut the hell up Harry will you,” Kate sighed as she closed her eyes for a moment thinking what a disaster of a night it had been, in more ways than one.

“Yes Mam,” Harry quipped with a drunken grin as he pretended to salute her and she shot him a dirty look. He looked back at her, both puzzled and a little miffed as they spent the rest of the cab ride back to her flat in stoney silence.

Somehow Kate managed to get him out of the taxi. As she went to hold him up as he staggered a bit he brushed her off. “I’m alright Kate – I haven’t bloody forgotten how to walk,” he snapped.

“Fine – suit yourself. I’m just trying to stop you falling on your drunken ass,” she threw back at him angrily.

“I am not drunk Kate,” he protested, trying to appear sober as he followed her up the stairs.

“Oh really? How many bloody drinks do you think you had tonight?” Kate replied furiously as she opened the door to her flat and stormed inside.

“Well what the hell was I supposed to do when you were off mixing with all your ‘muso’ buddies all bloody night?” he retorted a little bitterly as he followed her inside.

“Harry –like it or not that’s part of my job!” she replied in exasperation then added a little ruefully, “That’s if I’ve still got a job. After that bloody disaster of a night I wouldn’t be surprised if Miles rips up my contract.”

“Oh and that’s my fault is it?” Harry replied heatedly. “Just an embarrassment to you now am I?” he added in a hurt voice.

“I didn’t say that Harry,” Kate argued shaking her head at him..

“No but you thought it I bet. It’s all about your bloody career now isn’t it?” he fumed.

“Is that what you think? You know this is my dream Harry, but in case you haven’t noticed I’m trying to make it work for the two of us – so we can both have a better life,” she pointed out as she turned away from him, trying to calm herself down a bit. She hated fighting with him but he was just making her so damn angry, she thought to herself.

When she turned away from him, Harry too decided he didn’t want to fight with her anymore, especially when they could put all that passion to much better use, he thought mischievously to himself.

“Oh c,mon babe let’s not fight. Let’s kiss and make up eh?” he said as he winked at Kate and pulled her into his arms and tried to kiss her but she held him off.

“Oh no you don’t,” Kate stated firmly.

“Why the hell not?”  he asked a little angrily.

“Because your breath smells like a brewery for starters,” she snapped at him as she pulled away from him.

“Oh I suppose you only want to kiss the likes of that Johnny Cole now huh? I saw him coming onto you,” Harry stated accusingly, his jealousy getting the better of him, especially in his drunken state.

Kate looked at him, her green eyes flashing angrily. “Oh you did, did you? Well you obviously didn’t see me tell him I had a boyfriend! And you should talk – I saw that publicist Amanda Parker coming onto you as well! So you’re into older women are you now Harry?” Kate threw at him sarcastically, a bit of jealousy getting to her as well.

“Don’t be ridiculous Kate - I told her you were my girlfriend and that I wasn’t interested,” Harry tried to defend himself. “Well it didn’t look like she got the message,” Kate replied as she shot him a dirty look.

At that Harry sighed in frustration. “Well you think I didn’t notice how all those blokes were looking at you tonight? Gotta keep those record company guys happy eh?” he said a little bitterly.

“What the hell’s that supposed to mean?’ Kate demanded as she glared at him.

“Oh come off it Kate – old Handcock’s tongue was practically hanging out of his mouth when he was talking to you! Yeah I bet I know where he wanted your hand to be – just like his stupid name!” he threw at her, deliberately calling the record company exec the wrong name again.

Stunned and hurt by what he was crudely insinuating, Kate slapped him hard across the face, taking him by surprise and angering him even more.

“ _Damnu’ ort_ Harry,” Kate swore at him in Gaelic and dashed into the bathroom so he wouldn’t see her hurt, angry tears, locking the door behind her. Stung not only by the slap but also her words, Harry started pounding on the bathroom door.

“Dammit O’Casey open the bloody door,” he yelled furiously. 

“Piss off Harry. Why don’t you just go and sleep it off? I can’t talk to you when you’re like this,” she yelled back at him as she roughly wiped her tears away. 

“Fine – stay in there all bloody night then – see if I care!” he retorted as he thumped the door again in frustration.

After a few minutes Kate flung the bathroom door open and stormed out. She shot Harry a dirty look then started getting undressed for bed, not saying a word. Figuring he could ‘make it up to her’ in bed, Harry started stripping of too then went to hop into the bed next to her, but she pulled the covers off his side of the bed and pulled them round herself.

“Don’t think you’re coming in here!” she shot at him as he looked at her in shock then anger.

“Doesn’t look like I’ll be coming at all tonight,” he muttered under his breath, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“You got that right!” Kate retorted with just as much sarcasm as she rolled over away from him and he blew out a frustrated breath .

“Well where am I supposed to sleep?” he complained.

“There’s a perfectly good lounge out there,” Kate stated with a finality to her voice which he knew better than to argue with. With that he flung open the wardrobe door and grabbed a blanket out then slammed it shut again, storming out of the bedroom. He then lay down on the lounge, pulling the blanket over him.

They both lay awake for a while still fuming. Harry tossed and turned, trying to get his long, lean frame into a comfortable position on the lounge. He thought he heard Kate sniffle a bit and wondered if she was crying which pulled at his heart strings and a sudden wave of guilt washed over him.

“I’m sorry Katie,” he sighed as he ran an exasperated hand through his hair. Kate though was still so angry at him that she wasn’t prepared to go easy on him just yet.

“Just shut up and go to sleep Harry,” she replied, trying to hide the catch in her voice as he sighed, “Fine  - stay pissed then.” 

Not being able to help herself, Kate bit back “I’m not the one who’s pissed Harry.” He went to say something in return, not wanting to let her have the last word, but he swallowed his heated retort, realising even in his drunken state that they had said enough hurtful things to each other already that night..


	21. Chapter 21

Harry awoke before Kate the next morning with a pounding head and an aching heart. As he looked at Kate still asleep in the bed he briefly considered kissing her awake but then he wasn’t sure what kind of reception he’d get, given their huge fight the night before.  So instead he set about making breakfast for her, hoping the gesture would appease her.

Kate awoke to the smell of something delicious cooking not long after. She got up a little warily not knowing what sort of mood Harry would be in after their fight the night before. They looked at each other a little warily as she walked into the kitchen to find him serving up breakfast. “Morning,” she mumbled as she leant in the doorway.

“Morning – I made you your favourite Irish breakfast – soda bread, black pudding, the works,” Harry replied as he smiled a little cautiously at her.

“Thanks – but I’m not hungry,” Kate replied a little tersely as the smile disappeared from Harry’s face and he thought to himself, great, she’s still mad at me. 

“Well you’ve got to eat,” he threw back at her, a little angry that she didn’t appreciate all the trouble he’d gone to to prepare it for her.

“I said I’m not hungry Harry,” she repeated stubbornly as Harry frowned at her.

“God you’re so bloody stubborn O’Casey,” he muttered under his breath, as Kate shot him a filthy look.

“You can’t just make me breakfast and think that that fixes everything Harry,” she stated angrily.

He ran a frustrated hand through his hair as he looked at her – she was driving him crazy in more ways than one and he had to admit there was something about her when her temper was up that he found to be a definite turn on.

“Well what do you want from me O’Casey? Maybe this eh?” he said as he closed the distance between them and grabbed her face in his hands, kissing her hard. Kate initially pulled away from him as they stared at each other for a moment, both of them breathing fast, their anger stirring their passion. She then grabbed him and kissed him back, just as passionately, running her hands through his hair, as he pushed her up against the wall. Then Kate’s brain suddenly kicked into gear, overriding her body’s natural response to him.

“Harry.. no..” she pushed him away from her.

“Why not?” he demanded in frustration.

“I can’t.. we can’t .., “Kate said desperately as she tried to collect herself and ignore her natural instincts. “Harry we can’t always solve things like this,” she stated adamantly as she shook her head.

“Why? Works for me,” Harry retorted as he couldn’t stop a grin from crossing his face. 

Kate sighed in frustration as she ran a hand through her hair. “Harry I’m serious – is this just a joke to you?” she threw at him.

“No of course it’s not,” he replied. “Look I know you’re upset about last night. And I’m sorry but I can’t turn back time ..can !?” Harry stated, his gaze on the floor.

“No you can’t,“ Kate agreed then added with a sigh, “so maybe we should just forget last night ever happened.”

“Yeah I guess you’re right,” Harry replied as he focused his gaze on the floor again. “I’m never gonna fit into that world Katie,” he stated, his voice quiet.

As Kate looked at him, a lock of hair falling over his face and his handsome features clouded with a frown she suddenly understood what he was feeling and how that had contributed to the way he’d acted the night before. As he looked up at her, his blue eyes boring into her, she caught a glimpse of that scared, lonely little boy he had once been, never feeling like he belonged or that he was good enough. And with that, she felt her anger towards him melt away.

“Harry.. you are my world, don’t you know that? I think that’s what pushed me over the edge last night when I slapped you - the thought that you didn’t trust me enough to know that you’re the only one for me,” she confessed as she lovingly brushed the lock of hair off his face, the hurt showing in her green eyes as she fought back her tears. 

“I trust you Katie.. it’s those other guys I don’t trust. I guess I did get a bit crazy when I saw the way they were looking at you but well.. I’m only human,” he replied with a boyish grin as despite herself a grin crossed her face.

She paused for a moment then said, “Harry.. I know it’s not gonna be easy but we can work it out together hey?” as she put her arms around him. Harry nodded as he wrapped his arms around her, trying to believe it too.

“Are we good O’Casey?” Harry asked a little uncertainly.

She nodded with a smile as she reached up & kissed him. “Answer your question?” she replied as she tenderly stroked his cheek. He smiled back at her as he covered her hand with his own.

“How’s your head anyway?” she asked with a laugh as he shook it a little ruefully.

“It’s been better,” he admitted. “So..are you going to eat this breakfast I made you or not?” he asked as he cocked an eyebrow at her.

“Well seeing as you went to all that trouble I guess I better huh? Don’t want to let good food go to waste do we?” Kate replied with a grin as she begun tucking into it.

After they’d finished breakfast they pottered around for a little while then Harry suggested they go for a walk to a nearby park as it was a nice sunny day. They found a secluded spot under a big shady tree and stretched out, Kate with her head resting on Harry’s lap as they enjoyed the sunshine and the time together, both of them glad they had cleared the air between them. As Harry idly ran a hand through her hair Kate giggled a bit. “What’s so funny?” Harry asked with a smile.

“I’m just wondering how I’ll ever be able to look at Mr Hancock with a straight face,” she laughed as did Harry.

“Just make sure you call him the right name,” Harry quipped as she playfully hit him.

“Well if I don’t it’ll be your fault,” she chuckled as did he.

They were quiet for a while then Kate started humming a tune. “What’s that song? I haven’t heard that one before,” Harry asked as he smiled down at his ‘songbird’.

“Oh it’s just something I’ve been working on,” Kate replied.

“Can I hear it? The lyrics I mean?” Harry asked as Kate nodded with a smile and started singing, her voice clear and strong, as a smile crossed his face.

“That’s beautiful Katie,” he said genuinely when she’d finished as he traced a long, slender finger along her cheek.

“Thanks Harry. It’s about you,” she confessed, her green eyes shining with her love for him as he grinned at her.

“So what are you going to call it?” he asked. She curled her fingers around his as she looked into his gorgeous blue eyes then said softly, “Forever Yours.” His lopsided grin got even wider as she said that and she pulled his face down to hers.

They kissed, gently at first, the tenderness helping to soothe the wounds they’d inflicted on each other the previous night. Before too long though the desire they had for each other that was always simmering close to the surface over took them, as Harry lay back and pulled Kate on top of him. Given the park appeared deserted, they threw caution to the wind a bit as they gave into the pent up passion that had been building in both of them since the night before, the fight they’d had adding fuel to that fire. Kate started unbuttoning Harry’s shirt as his mouth plundered hers, demanding a response and receiving a very strong one as he pulled her hips closer to his.

“God Katie what you do to me girl,” he breathed in between kisses as he caressed her.

“Well you do the same to me tiger,” she laughed as she kissed his neck, eliciting a groan from him.

Knowing he was very close to reaching the point of no return, he very reluctantly pulled his mouth away from hers. “We’d better stop before I can’t O’Casey – this is a public place after all,” he reminded her with a rueful grin as he tried to get his breath (and his body) under control.

With that a mischievous grin crossed Kate’s face as she looked around. “Doesn’t look to be anyone here but us Harry,” she pointed out as she raised a questioning eyebrow at him.

“Are you serious?” he asked with both surprise and excitement. “Oh I’m very serious Harry,” Kate replied as she gave him a look which just about reduced him to jelly. With that she went to unbuckle his belt but he reluctantly grabbed her hands. In reply to her questioning look he sighed as he ran a hand through his hair in frustration “I haven’t got any.. you know.. on me. I didn’t really think we’d be doing this when I suggested we go to the park Katie.”

Kate sighed as well as she rolled off him and lay on the grass next to him, an arm across her face, a battle going on between her brain and her body. She did some quick calculations then decided, what the hell, it should be ok. After all they’d had unprotected sex once before she remembered, and nothing had happened. “I think we’re okay Harry,” she stated as she gave him a meaningful look and a delighted grin crossed his face.

“Really? Well if you’re sure you want to Katie..” he asked as she nodded and said with a grin of her own

“What the hell? Let’s live dangerously huh?” then she added “We better be quick though – we don’t want to get caught.”

Harry didn’t need any further encouragement as he wiggled his eyebrows devilishly at her and undid his belt and wriggled out of his jeans etc as Kate did the same and he covered her body with his own, the two of them striking sparks off each other as they did when they fought.  As their need for each other overwhelmed them, they drove each other over the edge, both of them trying to stay quiet so as not to attract attention to themselves, which was no mean feat.

As they came back down to earth Harry slumped against Kate, both of them trying to catch their breath and when he finally lifted his head to look at her they both burst out laughing. “I can’t believe we just did that,” he said as he flashed her a boyish grin.

“Neither can I,” Kate agreed with a smile. She was just about to reach up and kiss him when they heard a voice.

“Oy – you two over there! What do you think you’re up to?”

They both looked in the direction of the voice to see a police officer hurrying across the park towards them, as they both muttered expletives. “Harry I think we better get out of here!” Kate suggested as they madly scrambled to pull their clothes on.

“Good idea,” Harry agreed as he pulled up his jeans and fumbled with his belt.

“Don’t worry about it – c’mon,” Kate said urgently as she grabbed his hand, “If that copper catches us we’re done for!” she exclaimed as he nodded, not needing convincing as they sped off together.

When they finally got far enough away they stopped to catch their breath, the two of them cracking up laughing. “Oh that was a close one – I didn’t fancy having to ring Miles and explain to him why I got arrested,” Kate remarked as she noticed a strange expression momentarily cross Harry’s face, which was quickly replaced by his familiar lopsided grin.

“I’ll say,” he agreed as he put an arm around her and planted a kiss on the top of her head. “You’re a wild one O’Casey,” he laughed as he pulled her closer to him.

“Must be your influence hey Harry?” she threw back at him cheekily as he laughed and shook his head at her, then they headed home.


	22. Chapter 22

A few weeks later Harry & Kate were walking back to her flat hand in hand together one night after catching a late night movie. Engrossed in each other as they were, laughing & chatting they didn’t notice the figure in the doorway they passed until he spoke – a voice that chilled Harry to the bone. “Well, well, well, fancy seeing you round here Harry?” the man said in a rough voice as he emerged from the shadows as Harry froze.

“Just stay behind me Katie,” he said under his breath as Kate looked worriedly at him, alarmed by his tone. She had very rarely seen Harry look afraid but he looked positively terrified. He forced a smile onto his face as he turned around and stood in front of her.

“Mad Dog – how’s it going mate?” he said, trying to sound much more calm & collected than he felt. Mad-Dog? Kate thought to herself a little increduously, thinking that sounded like a name from some old gangster movie. But as she looked at the man standing in front of them she decided the name fit – he was Harry’s height but twice as wide and had a nasty scar down one side of his face and the look on his face told her he was no ‘mate’ of Harry’s.

He stepped closer to them, his expression menacing as he shot Harry a filthy look. “Don’t you call me ‘mate’ you two-bit con-artist,” he threw at Harry angrily as Harry put his hands up in an effort to placate him. “I’ve been looking for you Harry and now that I’ve found you I’m gonna show you what happens to smart-asses who think they can cheat me,” he continued threateningly as Harry backed up a bit and said seriously to Kate, “Katie I think you should get out of here.”

“I’m not going anywhere Harry,” she replied adamantly as despite her fear, she was not about to abandon him.

“You got that right darlin’ – you ain’t going anywhere. Seems I might need a little leverage to get what I want from young Harry here and you look like just what I need,” Mad-Dog hissed viciously as one of his hands shot out quick as a flash and roughly grabbed Kate’s arm and the other pulled a gun out of his jacket pocket and pointed it at her head.  
Kate bit back her frightened scream, not wanting to give the thug the satisfaction of knowing how scared she was as Harry turned pale with fear.

“Katie! Let her go you bastard!” he yelled in both fear & anger as his hands clenched into fists.

“Easy there matey – don’t do anything stupid or else my trigger finger might get itchy,” Mad Dog threatened as he tightened his grip on Kate as she futilely tried to break free of his grip. “It’d be a shame to ruin that pretty face of your bird here Harry,” he went on as Harry’s eyes desperately met hers, trying to convey how sorry he was that his less than legal activities had put her in danger. He could see her trying to fight back her frightened tears which tore his heart in two.

“Please – just let her go. She’s got nothing to do with this. This is between you and me,” Harry pleaded with Mad Dog who just laughed cruelly at him.

“Oh that’s very noble of you Harry - pity you weren’t so noble when you double crossed me you little punk” he threw at him.

“Look that was all a misunderstanding – honest,” Harry tried to convince him as the thug shook his head.

“Shut it Harry - I don’t want to hear your excuses!” he spat at him.

“Well what do you want?” Harry asked, desperately trying to think of a way to get him and Kate out of this dangerous situation, but seeing Kate in danger had thrown his usual ‘icy-calm’ bravado out the door and he couldn’t think straight. Meanwhile Kate was thinking the same thing – as scared as she was, she couldn’t just stand there and do nothing but quiver in her boots.

And maybe that would work in their favour she thought to herself – the last thing this thug would expect would be for her to fight back, he probably just thought she was some scared little girl, afraid to do anything while he threatened her and her boyfriend. But if there was one thing Kate O’Casey refused to be it was a victim.

She caught Harry’s eye and he recognised that familiar gleam in her green eyes she got when she was up to something. He subtly shook his head at her, it was too dangerous he thought when Mad-Dog was armed with a gun – he didn’t get his nickname for nothing after all. Kate looked pointedly at him again as he feared her stubborn nature was going to get her killed. So he decided to try and keep Mad-Dog talking and keep his attention off Kate. At that point Harry was willing to agree to anything, if he would only let her go.

“I’ll tell you what I want – I want my money back,”’ Mad-Dog replied, “otherwise you two aren’t gonna live to see your twenties,” he said menacingly as Harry visibly gulped.

“Well the thing is I don’t have it at the moment..,” Harry went to reply as Mad-Dog glared at him and cocked the trigger and gripped Kate’s arm tighter as she fought to stop herself from shaking. “Wait,wait..,” Harry said desperately, madly trying to think of something. “I’ll get it I swear- just please don’t hurt her,” he pleaded, his voice choked with emotion.

At that Mad-Dog laughed cruelly. “Oh ain’t that sweet. Damn right you’re gonna get it boy – in fact you’re gonna pay me back by working a few jobs for me Harry. Now I know you and Chalmers have some sort of arrangement going but as of now you work for me – I own you Harry. That is unless you want to repay your debt in another way?” he stated menacingly as he waved the gun at Kate and leered at her.

“No, no – whatever you say Mad-Dog,” Harry replied hurriedly.

As Mad-Dog waved the gun around Kate saw the opportunity she’d been waiting for. With all her might she slammed her boot down on his foot as hard as she could and twisted out of his grip. In shock and pain the thug momentarily loosened his hold on the gun and Harry jumped forward in front of Kate, his fist shooting out, connecting with Mad-Dog’s jaw, the gun clattering onto the ground.

“Harry! Grab the gun!” Kate screamed but he stood frozen to the spot, freaking out at how near to death she’d just been.

Somewhat shocked by his inaction, Kate dove for it herself before Mad-Dog could grab it again. “Don’t move you bastard!” she yelled at the thug as she pointed the gun at him, trying to stop her hands from trembling. He looked at her with a mixture of shock and amusement.

“Oh c’mon sweetheart put the gun down – you’re not going to shoot me!” he laughed as he wiped the blood off his bleeding jaw and stood up. Harry stared at Kate incredulously, not quite believing what she was doing.

“I’m not your sweetheart!” Kate stated coldly, her green eyes flashing angrily.

“Katie..I don’t think this is such a good idea – you’ve got too much at stake,” Harry stated, trying to convince her, thinking of her fledgling musical career.

“Listen to your boyfriend luv – first smart thing he’s said all night,” Mad-Dog said as something in her eyes began to worry him a little. He went to step towards the two of them but Kate stopped him as she raised the gun and pointed it at his head. “See how you like having a gun pointed at your head mate!” she threw at him, her voice sounding more confident than she felt.

“Your girlfriend’s a real piece of work Harry – she’s got more balls than you have,” Mad-Dog taunted him as Kate then lowered the gun to aim at his nether regions.

“You have no idea what you’re talking about and if you don’t shut up you’ll lose yours you lowlife,” she warned him as his hands automatically went to cover himself and despite the situation, Harry couldn’t help a small grin crossing his face.

“I wouldn’t push her Mad-Dog,” he stated as the thug glared at him.

“This is bullshit – you kids don’t know who you’re dealing with!” he warned them as he took another step towards them.

“No you don’t know who you’re dealing with,” Kate retorted as she pulled the trigger and fired near his feet and as he jumped backwards in shock he tripped and fell to the ground.

Kate yelled at Harry, “C’mon let’s get out of here,” as the two of them took off at full speed, Kate throwing the gun away into a bin when they were far enough away, glad to have it out of her hands.

They kept running until they reached the safety of Kate’s flat, bolting the door behind them, their hearts pumping with adrenaline from the dangerous situation they’d just managed to escape from. They both flopped onto the lounge together, catching their breath. When his breathing finally returned to normal Harry looked at Kate and demanded, “What the hell do you think you were doing Katie? Grabbing the gun like that – are you crazy??”

At that Kate retorted heatedly, “Well someone had to do something! You just froze!” her fear like his, manifesting itself in anger.

Harry looked at her just as angrily, a wave of guilt also washing over him. He’d been paralysed by his fear of losing her – a feeling he had never experienced before.  
“I .. I was just about to – you just beat me to it,” he explained hurriedly.

“And he could have got the gun back by then,” Kate pointed out in exasperation as she ran a hand through her hair and Harry blew out a breath as he got up and stalked to the other side of the room, turning his back to her.

“He could have killed you Katie,” he stated, his voice choked with emotion as he blinked back his tears then turned around to face her. The anguished look Kate saw on his face pulled at her heart strings.

“But he didn’t did he?” she replied, her voice gentler. “I’m okay Harry,” she reassured him with a smile.

“No thanks to me,” he muttered, shaking his head in self-disgust. At that Kate stepped closer to him and went to touch his cheek but he put a hand up to stop her.

“Don’t Katie – please don’t,” he said roughly as she looked at him in hurt bewilderment.

“Why not?” she asked, her voice tinged with both hurt and anger.

“You don’t get it do you?” Harry threw at her as he shook his head ruefully.

“Get what?” Kate asked, not liking where this conversation was heading.

“I’m no good for you Katie – you could have lost your life tonight for no reason other than you’re with me!” he exclaimed. “You could have any guy you want – one of those muso types would be better for you,” he added as a look of disbelief crossed her face.

“I don’t want any guy – I want you Harry,” Kate stated adamantly as she looked at him intently.

Harry was silent, his gaze focused on the ground as a somewhat bitter laugh escaped his lips. “What - so you can have a gun held to your head again? That’s my life Katie but it doesn’t have to be yours.”

“And it doesn’t have to be yours either,” Kate retorted. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – you’re better than this Harry. You’ve just got to believe it too.”

Harry didn’t know how to reply to that - she was hitting too close to the mark and he knew it. “Katie – this is never going to work. Our worlds are just too different..I can’t have you risking your life, your career just for us to be together,” he stated quietly, unable to meet her eyes, as she stared at him, trying to fight back the tears that had finally sprung to her eyes – his words and the delayed shock of the traumatic experience they’d just been through hitting her.

“You don’t mean that Harry,” her voice was a choked whisper as she swallowed the lump in her throat.

He knew deep down that he didn’t mean it but he felt it was for the best – he wanted to protect her and help her achieve her dreams. And the events of that night had made him think that in order for him to do that he needed to be out of her life. He finally looked at her, his intense blue-eyed gaze saying more than he could find the words to, as he went to move towards the door.

“No! No you don’t!” Kate exclaimed, almost desperately, as she stood in front of him shaking her head furiously, her tears threatening to spill down her cheeks. “I’m not going to let you leave me Harry,” she stated angrily.

Harry looked at her in frustration – she was too bloody stubborn for her own good. “And how are you going to stop me?” he retorted, blue eyes meeting green.

“Like this,” Kate replied as she grabbed him and pulled him to her, kissing him with all her heart and soul. Despite his best efforts Harry found himself responding to her as he always did, his body betraying him.

“You don’t fight fair O’Casey,” he murmured against her lips as he pulled her closer to him, needing to feel her against him and reassure himself she was okay.

“Not when it’s something worth fighting for, no,” Kate replied as she clung to him desperately, the fear she had felt at being held at gunpoint paling in comparison to her fear of him leaving her.

She ran her hands through his hair as she continued her assault on his senses, pulling out all the stops in an effort to convince him to stay and that they belonged together. Harry had never seen her like this before - kissing and caressing him with a desperate urgency. As one of her hands began unbuttoning his shirt the other went to his belt buckle, her searing kisses driving him wild. Summoning every ounce of self-control he had, he caught her hands in his. Even as aroused as he was, he wanted to take his time this time – he wanted to savour her and cherish her, make her feel how much she meant to him. He could have lost her that night, the thought kept ringing in his head as he tried to block it out. She’s better off without you – you’re only going to hold her back, or worse still endanger her, the little voice in his head taunted him. He shut his eyes for a moment in an effort to stop that train of thought and focused instead on the moment – on the girl in his arms, who meant more to him than anyone in his short life ever had. With some effort he pulled his mouth away from hers as she looked at him with a mixture of confusion and worry.

  
“What’s the matter?” Kate asked as she tried to get her breathing back under control. She wasn’t sure exactly what had come over her – all she knew was that she needed him. She needed to feel him under her hands and feel his hands on her. She needed to feel him inside her, she needed to hear him call her name as he hit the peak with her. She needed him to stay with her and love her. Harry was her everything and she couldn’t imagine her life without him. He wasn’t only her lover – he was her best friend and no-one knew her like he did.

As they had been confronted by that thug earlier that night, although she had been scared for her own life, she had been more concerned for Harry’s. And then with the way he’d been talking and when he’d moved to leave she did something she very rarely did – she panicked. So she did the most natural thing she could think of to make him stay but as he looked at her she wondered if even that was enough to convince him not to leave her. As he looked into her eyes Harry saw the fear in them and assumed it was due to the trauma of being held at gun-point. “Just relax Katie,” he murmured softly as he gently cupped her cheek. “Let’s take it slow eh?” as she looked at him with some surprise, as he very rarely wanted to take it slow.

Her eyes never leaving his, she nodded as he brought his lips to hers and kissed her with such exquisite tenderness that Kate had to fight back the tears that sprang to her eyes. As he kissed her and caressed her, she felt her fears evaporating – surely someone who knew every inch of her like he did, who knew just what to do to set her on fire as he did, couldn’t leave her. His kisses trailed down her neck as did hers for him as they undressed each other slowly, exploring and arousing each other as they did so.

Harry manoeuvred Kate to her bed, his mouth never leaving hers, fishing some protection out of his discarded jeans as he did so. “Harry…promise me you’ll never leave me,” Kate implored him as she pulled him down to her, her eyes searching his for the reassurance she needed. Harry looked at her for a moment – although part of him wanted to, he knew that was a promise he couldn’t keep, not now. So instead he kissed her, pulling her hips up to his as he did so, which Kate took as signifying his promise – he was after all a man of action rather than words.

“Harry..look at me,” Kate urged him as she ran her hands down his back and as he joined his body with hers and began moving his eyes never left hers. It didn’t take long for them to both go over the edge together, as they cried out each other names in ecstasy and held fast to each other.

When they came back down to earth Harry enveloped Kate in his strong, lean arms as she rested her head on his chest. As Kate felt the tension leave her at the same time as she felt the reassuring warmth of Harry’s body, her emotions suddenly overwhelmed her and the tears she had fought to hold back streamed down her face, her body wracked with sobs as Harry gently held her and ran a comforting hand through her hair.

“C’mon Katie – it’s okay. You’ve had one hell of a shock tonight – it’s natural to feel scared,” he reassured her. At that, Kate composed herself somewhat and raised her head to look at him, her tear-filled eyes seeming even greener than usual.“As scared as I was by that thug I was more scared by the thought of you leaving me,” she confessed as he just looked at her, not really knowing what to say.

“We can make it work Harry,” Kate stated confidently as he just smiled at her and kissed her, wishing he could feel as confident of that as she was..

  
                       ************************************  
Kate awoke the next morning and a stab of fear momentarily hit her when she realised Harry wasn’t in the bed next to her. Her fears were allayed though when she sat up and looked around to find him sitting on a chair in the corner of the room, a brooding look on his face as he drew something on the sketch pad she had given him the first Christmas they had spent together.

“Hey tiger – what are you doing?’ she greeted him with a smile as he forced a smile onto his face. He had woken early, sleep eluding him, as his mind kept going over the events of the night before – try as he might he couldn’t get the image of a gun being held to her head out of his mind. So he’d grabbed the sketch pad and started drawing – it was one of the things he’d found helped him relax.

“Just drawing,” he replied as she got out of bed and walked over to him.

“What are you drawing?” she asked as she affectionately ran a hand through his hair.

“You,” he stated, his blue eyes holding hers captive as he leant his head against her and she looked at the sketch he’d done of her sleeping.

“That’s really good Harry,” she said with genuine appreciation. “You forgot my bed hair though,” she laughed as her green eyes twinkled at him and despite his somewhat melancholy mood he grinned at her.

“Ah what are you talking about O’Casey? You look gorgeous any time,” Harry laughed as he pulled her onto his lap.

“Flattery will get you nowhere Harry,” she laughed back as he cocked an eyebrow at her.

“Oh really?” he quipped as he ran a hand over her hip. “You need to get some more clothes on O’Casey,” he chuckled as he cast an appreciative eye over her.

“Well if you really want me to..” she said as she grinned cheekily at him.

“Well ..maybe not just yet,” Harry replied with a lopsided grin, his mood lightened considerably. As she got up and took him by the hand, pulling him back towards the bed he wondered with some amazement how she knew just what to say and do to make him feel better. He had allowed her to see parts of him that he’d never let anyone else see – his sensitive, vulnerable side that he normally kept so well hidden. But he also knew that by doing that, he’d also opened himself up to get hurt and to hurt her too, he realised.

As if reading his mind Kate looked at him and said, “You’re still thinking about last night aren’t you?”.

He shook his head in denial, not wanting to get into that again with her and instead kissed her. “Just stop talking will you?” he murmured with a grin against her lips and as his hand travelled down her body she quickly lost the power of speech…

Afterwards, as they lay in each other’s arms Kate ran a hand over his chest and said. “You know you’re a really talented drawer Harry – you should do something with that.”

He sighed as he ran a hand through his hair – he knew deep down she was right, but he was afraid to try. “I dunno – maybe,” he replied.

She rolled onto his chest and looked him in the eye. “What do you mean maybe? If last night didn’t show you that you need to consider other options than your current ‘profession’ then I don’t know what will,” she stated adamantly.

“I don’t want to talk about last night,” he suddenly snapped as he sat up abruptly.

“We need to talk about it Harry,” Kate persisted.

“No we don’t,” he retorted just as determinedly as he sat on the edge of the bed, his back to her. Kate hesitated for a moment, acutely feeling the wall he was putting up between them. “Don’t shut me out Harry..please,” she said, her voice barely a whisper as she wrapped her arms around him and rested her chin on his shoulder, hoping that by being physically close to him she could somehow bridge the emotional distance that had suddenly seemed to spring up between them.

He covered her hands with his then said, “I have to go out for a while.”

“Where?” Kate asked.

Harry paused then said seriously, “I have to talk to Daniel – he’ll know what to do about Mad Dog.”

Kate silently nodded, knowing it was pointless to argue with him. Recognising that it was unlike Kate not to argue back, especially when it came to Daniel, he turned to look at her. “Don’t worry Katie – I’m going to work things out,” he reassured her as he tilted her chin up gently.

“That’s not what I’m worried about Harry,” she confessed, her eyes meeting his. “Are we okay?” she asked, not knowing if she wanted to know the answer.

As he looked at her, Harry’s conflicting thoughts whirled inside his head. But he knew one thing for certain – he couldn’t stand to see that worried, sad look in her eyes. “Of course we are O’Casey – don’t be an eejit,” he grinned at her as she breathed a sigh of relief and kissed him, putting her fears to the back of her mind.

After Harry showered and dressed he went to head over to Daniel’s flat. “I’ll catch you later okay?” he said to Kate, his blue eyes twinkling at her as he gave her a quick kiss.

“You better,” she replied in a fake threatening tone as she stole another kiss before he went on his way.

  
           **********************************

As Harry told Daniel what had happened the night before a concerned look crossed his mentor’s face. “So what should I do Daniel?’ he asked as he looked at the older man a little desperately.

Daniel shook his head as he got up and paced. “Oh Harry my boy – what were you thinking getting mixed up with someone like Mad Dog Morgan?” he sighed.

“I guess I wasn’t thinking,” Harry admitted with a degree of shame.

“Well what’s done is done - I’ll talk to him, see what I can do. Maybe he’d be open to some financial persuasion to leave you alone,” Daniel offered as Harry thanked him then asked a little nervously, “And if he’s not?”

Daniel looked at him, afraid his young protégé may have bitten off more than he could chew this time. “Well then I suggest you start seriously thinking about my offer to come to Europe with me. You seem to be making a habit of rubbing up nasty types like Morgan the wrong way my boy – what about O’Shaunessy as well?” he stated seriously, as Harry gulped a little as Daniel referred to Edward O’Shaunessy, otherwise known as ‘The Dublin Crusher’, another particularly nasty lowlife who Harry had unwisely crossed.

As Daniel looked at Harry he could see the hesitation still in his eyes and he knew what, or rather who, was the reason for it. “How is Kate? That must have shaken her up, being held at gunpoint,” Daniel asked sincerely. Although there was no love lost between him and the young girl who had captured Harry’s heart, he wouldn’t wish any harm on her.

“She’s okay - in fact I think I was more shaken up then she was,” Harry confessed.

“She’s certainly a tough little cookie isn’t she?” Daniel stated with a begrudging degree of admiration as Harry nodded in agreement.

Daniel paused for a moment as he realised that if she wouldn’t leave Harry even when she’d had a gun pointed at her because of him, she would never leave him. But Harry on the other hand..

“I hate to have to say it Harry but I was afraid this day would come. You’ve had your fun with her but it’s time to stop living in a fantasy and face reality – are you willing to jeopardise not only her career but possibly her life?” he posed the question to the young man.

Harry couldn’t look at him – instead he focused his gaze on the ground and shook his head. “The only way you can protect her is to leave her Harry – if you really care about her you’ll walk away,” Daniel stated adamantly. ”And don’t kid yourself my boy – one day, probably sooner rather than later, she’s going to wake up and realise she’s better off without you. The question is are you going to let her call the shots or are you going to control your own destiny Harry?” he added as he looked at him intently.

“Trust me, in our line of work it’s sometimes those closest to us who pay the price,” Daniel stated as a somewhat nostalgic, regretful look momentarily crossed his face. “Are you willing to take that risk Harry?”

“You sound like you’ve had some experience of that Daniel?” Harry asked perceptively. Daniel nodded, almost imperceptibly.

“Yes.. yes I have, and I don’t want you going through the same thing Harry,” he replied seriously.

“Who? What happened?” Harry asked, realising he didn’t know much about Daniel’s past. A wry smile crossed Daniel’s face as he stared at the young man standing in front of him. “Trust me Harry I have more regrets than you can imagine and one day I will tell you about them - but not today. Today we are talking about you my boy and the decision you have to make. I hope you make the right one,” Daniel stated as he gave Harry a meaningful look then left him to his thoughts.


	23. Chapter 23

The last night they’d spent together in London before he’d left they went to a nightclub with their friends.  They were waiting in line for a while to get in.

“C’mon we’re not going to get in – let’s just go to a pub or something. It’s bloody freezing out here,” Harry said impatiently. He was feeling on edge, knowing what he had to do the next morning - leave Kate and their friends and his old life behind.

“Give it a minute – we’re not even at the door yet,” Kate replied as she looked at him, wondering why he was in such a mood. As they got near the door the bouncer looked up and recognised Kate as the frontwoman for that new band ‘KK and the Beat’ – he’d been at the Marquee Club when they’d played there a while back.

“Hey you’re KK aren’t you? From KK and the Beat?” he asked as a grin crossed Kate’s face – getting recognised was a new experience for her. “I saw you guys play last month – you were really good.”

“Thanks,” Kate replied appreciatively.

“Are these guys with you?” he asked, nodding at Harry and their friends.

“They sure are,” Kate replied as she put an arm around Harry.

“Well c’mon in then,” the bouncer said as he waved them forward and they walked to the head of the line and inside.

“The advantages of being rich and famous hey Kate?” Chalkie commented with a grin as they all went inside.

“Well I don’t know about the rich part yet,” Kate replied with a laugh.

Harry however wasn’t laughing. To him it was just another reminder of how Kate’s star was on the rise – her fledgling fame was already (literally) opening doors for her that he felt he couldn’t follow her through, and pulling her further away from him and the life they’d shared together he thought. He was uncharacteristically quiet when they finally got inside and crowded into a booth. Try as he might he couldn’t share the enthusiasm the others had as they looked around the crowded, noisy club, enjoying the music and atmosphere.

“What’s up with you Harry? Your girl just got us into this club ahead of that whole line out there – you should be happy you’re in here, not still freezing your ass off out on that line,” Freddy laughed. Kate too looked at him curiously – she knew him well enough to know when something was bothering him. Maybe she could get him to open up to her later she thought, when they were alone, as it was pointless trying to hold a conversation in the club with the music blaring & everyone around them.

“C’mon lets go dance,” she said to him in an effort to get his mind off whatever was troubling him as she grabbed his hand and despite his initial protests pulled him onto the dance floor. He took her into his arms when they found a spot on the dance floor as the song had changed to a slower ballad, “ _Maybe I’m Amazed_ ,” which had recently been released by Paul McCartney. Kate linked her arms around his neck and looked him in the eye as they swayed together to the music.

“What’s up?” she asked him directly.

“Nothing,” he lied as he averted his gaze, but she had always been able to see through him.

“Harry..” she persisted as she ran a hand over his shoulder. He didn’t want to talk though, so instead he pulled her closer to him and kissed her, memorising what it felt like to kiss her. She responded to him in kind, the two of them soon oblivious to everyone and everything but each other.

“Hey will you two get a room already?” Freddy laughed as he and his girlfriend danced close to them. At that Harry & Kate reluctantly drew apart, a lopsided grin crossing his face as he whispered in her ear, “Sounds like a good idea – let’s get out of here.” For a moment Kate went to reply, “But we only just got here,” but then when she saw the smouldering look in his blue eyes any arguments she may have had left her. She nodded as he grabbed her hand and they left the club.

They hailed a cab when they got outside to go back to Kate’s little bedsitter. As they sat in the back of the cab Harry began kissing her again, rather urgently. As his hands began wandering Kate laughed softly “Harry..”, as she caught his hands in hers, feeling a little self-conscious as she could see the cab driver watching them in the rear view mirror. “What?” he asked, momentarily pulling his mouth away from hers as she motioned towards the cab driver. “He can get his own girl,” he quipped with a devilish wiggle to his eyebrows as his mouth found hers again. They only realised they had reached their destination when the driver pulled the cab up abruptly, jarring them about so much that Harry hit his head. “Watch it mate!” he muttered somewhat angrily as he gave the driver a dirty look as Kate quickly paid the driver and they got out of the cab.

They climbed the stairs to her first floor flat. As Kate got her keys out and was trying to open the door Harry started kissing her neck.

“Harry!” she protested half-heartedly, wondering what had got into him tonight – not that she was complaining. “I’m trying to get my key in the door,” she added.

“So am I,” he breathed huskily as he pressed himself against her.

“So I see,” she murmured with a laugh as she turned round to kiss him as he pushed the door open. He closed it behind them and she had barely put her hand bag down when he grabbed her and pulled her to him.

“Down tiger,” she laughed in a seductive tone at his urgency, as he gave her a meaningful look and replied with a mischievous grin, “Too late,” which his body was also telling her.

“Harry what was up before - at the club?” Kate asked between kisses but he was in no mood for talking.

“Don’t talk O’Casey… we have much more interesting things to do,” he murmured as he ran a hand through her hair and she forgot about talking.

Although part of him wanted to take it slow and commit every last inch of her to memory, knowing this would be the last time they would be together like this, his need for her was starting to overwhelm him for the very same reason.  With that thought in mind he started unbuttoning her blouse, his mouth never leaving hers, as she shrugged it off and his hands found her breasts. She managed to get a few of his shirt buttons undone, her other hand caressing his chest, before he somewhat impatiently ripped it off. He had never been quite like this before Kate thought, wondering a little what had brought it on, but she had to admit it was incredibly arousing. And then as his hand travelled up her leg all coherent thought left her as he found her more than ready for him and he quickly divested her of the rest of her clothing, and as he caressed her he manoeuvred her towards her bed.  As she sat down on the bed she undid his belt buckle and unzipped his jeans as he stood in front of her, her eyes holding his intently. He quickly pulled them and his briefs off and as she reached for him he gently pushed her back on the bed.

He did not immediately do what she thought he was about to though. Instead he kissed her and then started trailing kisses down her body. “Harry..” his name escaped her lips in a ragged breath as he looked up at her, his eyes darkened with passion to a deep cobalt blue.

“Let me do this for you Katie,” he whispered as he continued his journey and Kate surrendered to the feelings he evoked in her, thinking of nothing else but the two of them and this moment in time. As he took her over the edge and felt her trembling against him he finally entered her, his eyes never leaving hers as their bodies, so attuned to each other, settled into a rhythm that to both of them felt so natural, so right, Harry wondered if it would ever feel the same with another girl. “Katie,” he groaned into her neck as he felt himself losing control, losing himself in her, as he held her to him, not wanting to let her or the moment go, but knowing he had to.

They lay afterwards wrapped in each other’s arms, both trying to get their breath back. Kate ran a hand through her hair, a satisfied smile on her face.

“Wow! I don’t know where that came from Harry..but I like it,” she laughed softly as she raised herself on an elbow to look at him and planted a kiss on his lips.  A boyish grin crossed his face as he reached up and brushed a stray hair off her face and looked at her, imprinting the look on her face into his memory – her smile and her green eyes shining at him with love & desire.

“Well.. I aim to please,” he quipped cheekily.

“Well you certainly did that,” she replied with a giggle as she rested her head on his chest and absently traced a line through the dark hair there as he felt his body starting to react to her touch again. He wasn’t the only one who felt it.

“Don’t tell me the tiger’s ready to roar again already?” she quipped cheekily as he cocked an eyebrow devillishly at her. “You’re insatiable,” Kate laughed as the lopsided grin she loved crossed his face.

“Well it’s your fault,” he retorted with a meaningful look.

“My fault?” she laughed.

“You know the effect you have on me Katie,” he admitted as she smiled at him.

“Well I guess we’re going to have to do something about that aren’t we?” she stated with a mischievous gleam in her eye as she proceeded to do just that, her kisses trailing down his body until she reached her goal, returning the favour that Harry had bestowed on her earlier.

“God.. Katie..,” he groaned as she drove him wild with what she was doing to him.

He knew he was very close but he wanted to share it with her so he gently tugged her head up and claimed her mouth with his, running his hands over her. He didn’t want to rush it this time like they’d just done – instead he wanted to take it slow and commit the feel of her under his hands, under his body, to his memory. Kate followed his lead, exploring his body as he did to her, both of them taking their time.

To Kate nothing else mattered right then & there but this man she was with – her man, her Harry. Being an orphan she had never felt like she belonged to anyone in her life, but as she looked into his beautiful blue eyes she knew she belonged to him. And as fast & urgent as their love making had been before, this time he made love to her with such careful tenderness that it brought a tear to her eye. Afterwards, she fell into a contented sleep in his arms, as Harry brushed her forehead with a kiss then stared at the ceiling, wondering how he was ever going to leave her…

                                *******************************************

Harry awoke early the next morning, just as the sun was coming up. As he looked at Kate sleeping soundly next to him he almost went back on his earlier decision to leave her. ‘No it’s for the best’, he told himself firmly. She wouldn’t need him when she was a famous rock star – how would he fit into that life, a two bit mick from the streets? Plus he wanted to protect her from the dangers the life he led sometimes held. He knew she’d be hurt by his leaving but he felt in the long run it would be for the best – after a while I’m sure she’ll forget me, he tried to convince himself. Plus the opportunity Daniel had presented him with, to go to Europe with him, was too good to pass up.

Still…he was going to miss her. As much as he hated to admit it, she had seen past all his bravado to the real him inside and had accepted him regardless. And he had never felt for a girl what he felt for her and he wondered if he ever would again.

Careful not to wake her he got out of bed. She stirred a little, missing the warmth of his body as he froze for a moment but then she fell back into a deep sleep. He picked up his jeans from the floor where they had been hastily discarded the night before and checked the pockets, looking for a piece of paper to write her a note on. He was somewhat surprised to find a little foil packet in there as he was pretty sure they’d used protection the night before. They had gone dancing at a nightclub last night before ending up back at Kate’s flat where things had got pretty heated he recalled. He had made love to her with an urgency he had never felt before, wanting to memorise every part of her and how it felt to make love to her, and give her something to remember him by too, as he knew that would be their last night together. And then, their passion had been stirred again as they had made love a second time with a tenderness that touched his heart. Even though they had both got rather ‘carried away’, he was confident they wouldn’t have forgotten to use protection. ‘Must have put a few in my pocket,’ he dismissed it without another thought as he quietly got dressed. He found a piece of paper and a pen and chewed on the top for a moment, not really knowing how to say goodbye…

 


	24. Epilogue

Harry arrived at Daniel’s place not long after. “Ah Harry my boy come in,” Daniel greeted him. “All ready to go?” 

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Harry replied, forcing a smile onto his face.

Daniel regarded him for a moment. “So how did young Kay take the news?” he asked.

“Kate,” Harry corrected him with more than a little irritation as he knew Daniel was deliberately calling her the wrong name. He looked down at the floor, feeling ashamed. “I don’t know.. she was still asleep when I left.  I left her a note,” he explained hurriedly.

Daniel patted him on the shoulder. “I see. Well never mind Harry. There’s plenty of other fish in the sea.. or on the Continent,” he stated with a smile as he gave his now 18 year old protégé a meaningful look. “I’m sure in time she’ll get over you,” he reassured him.

“Hmm,” Harry agreed somewhat reluctantly, unable to shake the guilt he was feeling, as he wondered if she had woken up and found the note yet.

“I bought you something – it’s in your bedroom, Why don’t you go have a look?” Daniel encouraged him. With less enthusiasm than Daniel had hoped for, Harry went in to the bedroom.

He came out a moment later carrying the suit bag & tie he’d found on the bed. “What the hell’s this?” he demanded.

“Why it’s a suit Harry,” Daniel replied, trying to hide his amused smirk at the look on the young man’s face. “If you’re going to graduate to the ‘big time’ Harry you’re going to have to look the part. Jeans and t-shirts aren’t going to cut it anymore I’m afraid my boy. I guessed your suit size and had it made for you – cost me a pretty penny too, so the least you can do is try it on,” Daniel stated.

With a scowl on his face Harry disappeared into the bedroom. “There’s a shirt and a pair of shoes & socks in there for you as well,” Daniel called.

A little while later Harry emerged wearing the suit, although he hadn’t done up the tie. “I can’t get this stupid thing done up - do I really have to wear all this?” he complained somewhat petulantly as Daniel looked at him with a look of pride – the transformation was quite amazing. Instead of a young street kid he now looked like a proper young gentleman.

”Here let me do it for you,” Daniel said with a smile as he did up the tie, Harry tried to loosen the collar and tie a bit, unused as he was to wearing them, but Daniel smacked his hand away. “Stop fidgeting boy – now go and have a look at yourself.”

Harry somewhat reluctantly did as he was asked and went back to the bedroom to look in the full length mirror. He had to admit he did look pretty good in a suit – more worldly & sophisticated somehow. Someone people would take seriously and respect, not dismiss as they had so often done to him, he thought to himself. The navy 3 piece suit & matching tie teamed with the sky blue shirt that matched his eyes seemed to transform him. Despite his initial reluctance to wear it, a grin crossed his face as Daniel came up behind him. “Well look at you my boy – your first suit. Welcome to your new life Harry,” he said, beaming proudly. “The Continent won’t know what’s hit them,” he quipped with a grin. “Hang on – the piece de resistance ,”Daniel stated as he plucked a light blue handkerchief out of his pocket and put it in the top pocket of Harry’s suit jacket. “Now just two more stops before we board the ferry to Calais,” Daniel said as they grabbed their bags and he ushered Harry out the door.

“What for?” Harry asked.

“The first is a barber – that hair’s way too long,” Daniel stated matter-of-factly as he looked at Harry’s almost shoulder length hair.

An angry look momentarily crossed Harry’s face. ”Not the hair Daniel,” he warned him as Daniel shook his head.

“Harry my boy – this is the new you remember?’ he stated firmly. “And you can lose that ridiculous earring too,” Daniel added. “And we then need to pay a visit to an associate of mine who can take your photo and do up a fake passport for you,” he stated as he closed the door behind them, and it seemed to Harry that he was closing the door on a chapter of his life…

( _to be continued in ‘Steeling the Past – Part 2”)_


End file.
